A Certain Mythical Ballista
by Cearbhail
Summary: My name is Ahmbra Dragonis... I'm an ex-slave Khajiit that has been adopted by Ysolda Dragonis and I moved to a magicka-focused town called Rimmen. Ksaan... my new friend, is a Firedrake... and he's graduating. I guess... I guess I might be joining. I don't know much about magicka but... I'll try my best. If I don't... we might lose Rimmen to the Dominion. No one wants that.
1. A New Home

**Cearbhail:**

 _So, I've been sitting on this for a while now. This is the story of Ahmbra Dragonis, the Khajiit that was in the same slave camp as Ruby, and was adopted by Ysolda. And... this is her story. It's pretty much what the Khajiit Battlemage was supposed to be before... before the Aedra somehow found their way into the story and screwed the whole thing up... leading to the whole series later on. So... without further adu... A Certain Mythical Ballista... as the Khajiit Battlemage should have been.  
_

 _=^^= Enjoy..._

* * *

[4e206, 29 Rain's Hand]

 _Dear diary,_

 _So… hi. My name is Ahmbra Dragonis. This is my first time writing in a diary, which Ysolda… um… Mom, maybe? Yeah, Mom. That sounds nice but… well… kind of weird. But, whatever. Mom. So, Mom bought this diary for me, telling me that people write in these to record memories. So… here it is. This is my memory for now on. What to write? So many things I could write about. It's been a very long few days. So… I'll start from the beginning._

 _Until a week ago, I… I was a slave. I lived in a desert sanctuary designed to allow perverted people to do unspeakable things to slaves like me. I had to live and experience things no one should live through. However, there was one man, an Orc, that actually took good care of me. Umbra. He usually spent most of his time with me just chatting, telling me about his adventures and the battles he had fought in. Sometimes he would let me play with his armor and his sword. I never imagined what it would be like to be in full armor, swinging around a giant blade. So, with the exception of a few costumers that enjoyed my presence a little too often, my life in the slave camp wasn't too bad. I grew up a slave, never knew a different life._

 _Like I said, I grew up a slave, but that ended a week or so ago. When an old slave came back to us, a Khajiit named Ruby, trouble came with her. Her mother came to look for her; she destroyed the whole camp, killing all the slavers. And she did it all… with magic. It was amazing to look at. Her control of ice magicka was something else. When she finished killing all the slavers, she set all of us slaves free. This woman, her name was Lydia, she kind of took me with her under the promise that she knew someone that would love to adopt me… an old friend of hers named Ysolda Dragonis. And… that really happened. I met Ysolda, and her first greeting for me was bringing me into a hug and calling me her daughter. It felt… well, it kind of brought back fresh memories of how my customers would hold me before they took me. I wish I could say that my parents used to hug me, but I was force bred. Two Khajiits were forced to breed so that I would exist. My parents never wanted each other, let alone me. I know who they are, but they both rejected me just as quickly as my customers did when they were done. It felt nice to have someone that actually cared about me._

 _So… all the stuff that happened while I was traveling with Lydia, we met some people that lived in Rimmen, kids I knew I would probably end up socializing with. I didn't really talk to them, but it was nice to know that they were around. Everything else that happened was kind of rushed for me. It was an unfamiliar environment… being free. I slept, a lot, kept myself wrapped around Lydia's waist as she led me towards Skyrim to reunite with her own daughter while trying to find Ysolda in the process. So, when we finally ended up in Skyrim, I got to meet my new mother. She is… is there a word for dragon bait? I think her last name has a lot to do with it. Dragonis… does that mean I'm going to start being kidnapped by dragons now? Anyway._

 _How long do people normally write in these things? I'm not even halfway done, I think. Um… well… after Ysolda adopted me, we got on a carriage and went back down to Rimmen, where they lived. Ruby's father, M'aiq joined us on the way back. And I met Ruby's brother, Ksaan, when we made it to Rimmen, just four days later. He introduced himself to me. He's… he's… huh… I don't know what to think of him. I only mention it because… we're kind of living with him. You see… Ysolda's house was ransacked by bandits, slavers actually. There's a lot of blood, organs… stuff… well, either way, it needs to be fixed up before we begin living in it. So, Ralof, my new daddy, and his friends are helping to clean the house up, fix what's broken, and everything else. And me? Well… Mommy just wants me to sit down and relax. It's been a rough week for me. I guess I deserve some time to just… adjust? Something. I'm not sure. I really don't know. I really don't know what to do with myself anymore. I guess I'll just go talk to Ksaan, or something._

 _Ahmbra Dragonis._

 _…_

So… I have a bedroom now. Sure, it's temporary, but it's the first bedroom I've ever had. And… well… it's not even my own bedroom. I'm kind of living in Ksaan's bedroom. And… uh… it's kind of weird. They brought out a roll-out mat and I thought, ok, I get to sleep in that. But then Ksaan falls right into it and just falls asleep. I… I really didn't know what to make of that. I mean, his bed was available but… it's _his_ bed. But… he took the roll-out mat. So… was I supposed to sleep in the bed? Was _he_ supposed to sleep in the bed? Was I going to get yelled at for sleeping in the bed? So many things, and it kept me up and pacing around the room until I was literally too tired to stand up. I ended up crashing on the bed, passing out before I could change my mind. When I woke up, the roll-out mat was already rolled up and put in the corner of the room. I was placed perfectly in the bed, tucked in. There was a note sitting right next to me, it read: Just sleep in my bed for now. So… I guess that note was for me then? Was I supposed to sleep here until we move out?

When I climbed out of bed, I didn't really know what to do with myself the whole day. I took a whiff of the air, detecting nothing. I picked up an older scent of them from a couple hours ago, but I couldn't pick anything up. This house isn't all that big, that being said… I could smell my parents from inside my room. Knowing that they weren't here, I pretty much knew they were definitely at the house, cleaning it up. I tried to go there last night when they were assessing the damage, but Mom just turned me aside, telling me she didn't want me to see the house as it was, and that it wasn't my job to help them clean it up. I should go be a kid for once in my life. A kid? What's a kid? Is that like the opposite of a slave or something? So, I walked back to M'aiq's house. And…that's it. I just stood around in the moon sugar field… looking at the sugar cane as the wind rustled through the stems. And… wow… is this fun? So, that's when I walked to the room and paced around for a few hours before crashing in Ksaan's bed.

Before crashing into his bed though, I did have plenty of time to walk aimlessly around the room. I got a pretty good look at what the room was like, and I guess you could say I got a good idea of what kind of person Ksaan was. There were just a few things in the room. There was a closet filled with clothes, most of which were standard robes, pants, and rabi, as well as sandals and boots. There were also a few long wooden poles that might be staves, but not really sure. On a shelf in the closet were a few board games, including some game called Risk. There was a desk with a notebook sitting on top of it, closed shut; a few other books lying in a pile on the right side; and a few straight sticks sitting on the left side. There was a teenage boy sleeping on a mat in the corner of the room, hissing quietly in his sleep. And his hissing rhythmically was making me tired too. So, that was when I started to fall asleep. And that's when I crashed on his bed. There really wasn't much I could do in this room.

And now… after waking… I found out that… I still had nothing to do. Normally, I would have found something to do. Something to clean, or something to cook. But… Mom already told me that I was forbidden to clean and cook for a while. I wasn't allowed to do anything that even looked like chores. Not until I learned how to be a kid. I guess Lydia gave her some notes on how to turn an ex-slave into a proper person, seeing how Ruby turned out, I'm all for this new training. So, my mission was to learn how to be a kid. I wonder if Ksaan knows what a kid is. I might as well ask him, he's probably the only person in the house. I can pick up his scent from the room, so he couldn't have gone far. So, I decided to go and try to find Ksaan, or anyone for that matter.

Before I left the room… I did encounter one problem… I was still wearing my old maid's outfit from when I was a slave. I never really cared for the dress, and I have some bad memories, not to mention stains, so I made sure to change out of it before I left. Mom left me a bunch of clothes she took from the house last night and left them in a folded pile near the door for me. I spent a few minutes just browsing through the clothes, examining them. I never saw this many different colors in clothes before, even with our customers. Bright pinks, yellows, blues, greens… some kind of swirly rainbow pattern stuff, which I decided I would wear today. And then I had to pick out a skirt so I picked out something just as colorful as my ruffled top. By the time I found myself in front of a mirror, I looked like a colorful rainbow threw up on me. I thought it looked nice (don't blame me, I've only ever worn maid outfits before). I made sure to slip on my sandals before slipping out the room.

Using my nose to sniff where people where, I was able to tell Ksaan was somewhere in the field. So, I made my way outside, walking around the sugar cane field. I didn't want to walk through it since the sugar cane was planted in a series of small trenches filled with water that flowed in from the nearby river. And since I didn't want to walk around with wet feet all day, I decided to walk around the field until I could see Ksaan. And he was indeed out in the field, sitting in small clearing. Well, it looked more like meditating, that thing Umbra taught me how to do a couple years ago. He taught me a lot of things, but meditation was the one he pushed on me the most. He taught me how to block myself out so that I didn't have to suffer while I was being used. I hear it was something a lot of slaves learned how to do… but only as they got older. And I witnessed Ruby exploiting it a few times just a week or two ago. It was sad that they managed to break her. She never broke… and I liked that about her. Seeing her turn into a rag doll while being tossed from Kim to Yun… it only depressed me.

I shook my thoughts away as I brought myself back to the present. I couldn't let myself think about those days anymore. I was free now. I had to look down at my hands, making sure I wasn't wearing slave cuffs. My wrists were still bruised, my fur still short and ruffled there, still bare in spots from where it was pulled. It was still a fresh wound… in all respects. But… I had to become better. I'm free now! I'm Ahmbra! Daughter of Ysolda Dragonis, and… I really don't know yet. What kind of person was I? Did I have anything to my own name? Daughter of Ysolda? Was that all I was? I'm free… I can be whatever I choose to be. Who am I? I felt a familiar darkness crash down around me as I felt trapped in a cage… a cage of my own making. Who was I? I never… I never had to ask myself that before. I always knew… I'm a slave. But… I'm not. I'm free. Is that who I am? Am I free? Is that all I am? I felt tears coming to my eyes… and I didn't know why. Were they tears of relief, confusion? I couldn't tell. But they were coming. And they were falling. And I was crying.

I fell to my knees, quietly trying to wipe away the tears, only to make it worse. Everything that had been building up for the past … whole life was suddenly coming out. And it was coming out fast and hard. I couldn't stop myself from sniffling, bawling, or convulsing as I curled up into a ball. I don't know how long I lied there, just within earshot of Ksaan in the field, but it felt like forever. Everything I had gone through, every experience… forced its way into my head, and it made me cry. Everything, even seeing Ruby in Solitude, hugging Lydia and then tricking her father into spending time with her. Every encounter I had with customers, every time I had to keep myself from crying because of the pain I was going through, it was all flowing out of me onto the ground.

I kept glancing through my blurry eyes over to Ksaan, who was still meditating. He didn't move, he didn't flinch. Only his ears flicked in my direction, so I knew he knew I was here. And that only made me cry harder. To think that I was troubling him over whatever was possessing me only made me feel bad. More and more memories and experiences gripped me, forcing me into a dark room where everyone I'd ever met stood around me, laughing as they made me relive what they'd put me through. I don't know how I stayed curled up in a ball, covering my ears and trying to hide from it… but eventually it started wearing down. My tears began to stop. My body felt weak, my limbs still convulsing uncontrollably. It was a while longer before I could open my eyes. I still didn't feel like moving. Ksaan hadn't moved either. He was still meditating.

Still longer passed, without either of us moving. My body was slowly calming down, and I began to calm down at well. I eventually was able to sit up, still feeling very weak though. I thought about waving to Ksaan, but he was sitting with his back to me. So… I should probably just leave him to his meditation then. I tried to turn myself around. I was just going to run back to the room and bury myself under as much blanket as possible. I just don't think I'm ready to do things yet. I probably need to let myself deal with some issues. So, as soon as I turned to crawl out of the field, I heard, "Good morning, Ahmbra." He glanced over his shoulder to me. "Did you need something?"

I sighed. Was he pretending that the past however long it was didn't happen. I guess I could do that. Why did I originally come here for anyway? "Do you know what a kid is?" Was that why I came down here? It was so hard to remember, but I just wanted to escape.

He glanced at me for a few seconds before nodding. "Yeah… we're kids. As in… not full adults yet. Well, I'm a teenager, but whatever. Why?"

"Mom wants me to learn how to be a kid." I said to him as I started to stand up. My legs quivered underneath me, but I found my strength returning to me slowly. "She won't let me clean anything until I do."

Ksaan glanced up at me from his sitting position. "Ok? Ahmbra… are you ok?"

I shrugged. "Sort of, why?" I don't get it… was he acknowledging that I was crying for a long time, or was this a different kind of question?

He smirked mischievously. That… that wasn't a good sign. "Well, first off… that outfit. That's just…who dressed you?" Seriously? I just got done bawling my eyes out, and you're insulting my outfit? That's rude.

"I did. Why?" I looked down at my extremely colorful outfit. "I thought it looked nice. Better than my maid dress that I've been wearing for the past year."

He nodded. "Right… you were a slave. That would explain a lot." He stood up. He walked over to me, taking my hand. "Ok, come on. I'm going to teach you fashion sense."

Fashion sense? "Is that a kid thing?"

He scoffed. "Actually, no, not really. More like teenager thing, but still… if you're going to be seen around me, you're not looking like a unicorn vomited on a clown. Besides, it will get you ahead of your peers who still dress like uncoordinated clowns."

"What?" I tried to pull my wrist from his hand. "And what makes you think I want to change how I look? And how will this make me a kid?"

He shrugged. "If you're going to learn how to be a kid, I'm taking you to my friends. We're all meeting up after school anyway."

"School? What's school?" My head was spinning from everything I was being taught. Fashion, school. Being a kid. Having to face my whole past in the time span of maybe an hour. Jeez… this is too much work. Can I go back to bed now? I think I need to just stay in my bed for a while. Bed just seems more and more like my only option for how to live out my day.

"It's a place where we learn stuff. I'm graduating this year from Rimmen Firedrake Academy. A four year program school designed to turn me into a Firedrake. You actually caught me doing my morning meditation. I'm a little behind on my studies thanks to my little adventure with Nisha, but that's ok. The final test, the Firedrake Placement Examination, is actually one month from now. I have plenty of time to get ready for the test, and to be honest, with my Sen'la'gar, I know I'll do just fine on it. But still, the written exam can take a lot of points out of me."

So many things I didn't understand. I couldn't even follow the sentence at all. "Um… firedrake? What's that?" He smiled, pulling me into his room. He started rummaging through my new clothes on the floor. He pulled out a red blouse and a black skirt, throwing them at me.

"First, get changed, and then, I'll show you what a firedrake is." He said as he left the room, closing the door behind him. I looked at the clothes in my hand. The red blouse was plain and dark red, the skirt looked a lot like the one I was currently wearing, only black instead of multi-colored. Well, I guess this looks ok. But… there was something else going on here. Ksaan was trying to get me to dress in a way he liked. In a way he found favorable. I'm not his slave; I'm no one's slave anymore. I threw the clothes in my hands on the floor, stomping on them a few times before I walked over to the pile of clothes. I may have liked what he picked out… I may have even thought they might look nice and cute one me… but that wasn't the issue right now. I'm my own person now… I'm free! And I will not dress in a way he finds favorable just because I like what he picked out. I have to send him a message. Ksaan seemed to hate seeing me wear colorful things uncoordinatedly. Is there anything else in this pile of clothes really colorful I can throw on to mess with Ksaan even more? After scratching around the pile, I found some really colorful plaid arm sleeves that were pink and blue, so I threw them on too. Since my top was yellow, magenta, blue, and green, I think it didn't match perfectly. And then I marched out of my room, wearing my tie dye ruffled blouse, my plaid arm sleeves, and my multi-layered ruffled color splotched skirt. And none of it matched, at all. I did a good job! And I felt proud of myself. This was the new me!

"Ok, done." I said as I looked at Ksaan, who was waiting right outside his door.

He glanced at me, his eyes looking in surprise before rolling his eyes. "Ok, I'll take that as a 'no' on my advice. Let's go." He started walking back through the doorway leading outside.

"If your friends ask, I'm saying you suggested it. I'll say how I stood there, all embarrassed as you personally dressed me. I was so desperate for your sage advice on how your 'fashion' works." I said as I followed behind him.

"Thanks for the warning. Last time I try to help you with your wardrobe choices."

"I didn't ask you the first time. I'm not your slave for you to dress up however you wish." More images of sick people forcing me to dress up for them flashed through my mind. If I keep thinking like this, I'll end up on the ground again. I could already feel more tears beginning to well up.

He paused as he looked over at me. "Wow… did not even think of it like that. Sorry."

I tried to wave it off, but honestly that's exactly what it felt like. Here, we don't like the way you look; wear this instead. I'm sick of wearing what other people want me to wear, unless it's a uniform. I don't know what this school is, but if they have to wear uniforms, I can understand that part. Looking at Ksaan, he was wearing what looked like a regular training rabi: orange top with black pants. I could see a logo of some kind on his sleeve that had some kind of flame symbol with RFA printed in front of it, but other than that, it looked like a regular shirt.

"So, what's with your wardrobe choice?"

"It's my school uniform. I have classes to go to in a couple hours." He said, looking over at me. "You can follow me to class, but afterwards, you have to find something else to do. And I'll be there until 4:30. Until then… well… you'll have to find some way to stay out of trouble." As he walked onto a dirt pathway leading to the town, I followed behind him.

"Can I just sit in on your class?" I wanted to see what it would be like.

"You can ask. Not sure how much fun you'll have, but you can ask." He replied. "Some of my friends will be there. A few others… well… they're around your age."

"Any rules I should know?"

He nodded. "Yeah, during class, no talking unless asked a question by the teacher… stay away from Ja'Loshin, or M'Ipyan. Ja'Loshin will probably try to take advantage of you like he does all the other girls. And if he finds out you were a slave… well… he'll definitely use that against you somehow. And M'Ipyan… she's the queen bee of our class, has all the girls wrapped around her claw. She will try to find a way to either indoctrinate you into being one of her carbon copies, or she will use her friends to socially destroy you. With your outfit… probably the latter."

"Why?" Not going to lie, both of those things seemed pretty scary to me. Another boy looking to take me, and a girl that wants to tame me. Jeez… might as well not have even left my sex slave camp. This school sounds exactly like it in every way.

"Why what? Why the boy, or why the girl?"

"Why to all of it."

He shrugged. "Social politics in our school. Our school… it's the top of the social ladder here in Rimmen, heck… top of the schools in the whole country. Everyone wants to go here; it's a very high ranked school. Everyone wants to be a firedrake, it's the dream of every Khajiit mageling."

"So… you're a mage then?" Just like Lydia, the woman that single-handedly brought down my slave camp. I think I would like to learn about magic. Sitting in on this class sounded like it could be fun.

He nodded. "Everyone you meet today is. This is Rimmen… the best city in Elsweyr for studying magicka. Before the rebellion of a few firedrakes against the Crushers… this town was nothing but a rat hole for skooma dealers. After Rimmen was liberated by a few firedrakes, this entire town became a city dedicated to magicka. Everyone who lives here is either studying magicka or farming. That's about it really. There are more than several academies, but only one dedicated to the traditional arts of training firedrakes for the Mane. And I'm in that academy… the Rimmen Firedrake Academy. I'm in the senior class, so we're all getting ready to graduate. I'm not saying we're the strongest of mage academies but… you know. It's just that we have a rich background in our history, and in this town. Our academy was the first and since it's only for Khajiits, more than a couple other magical studying academies have opened up here since. The only competing institute here worth mentioning is also pretty limited in its selection: Aldmeri Magicka Institute. It's where most of our elves study at. It's also very…well… elitist. Sometimes, we get in fights with their classmates, but they usually start the fights. In my class, it's usually Ja'Loshin or M'Ipyan. So, once again, do not mess with those two kids today. They can do things to you with very little effort. And they won't hesitate to pick on a slave either. To them, you're the bottom of the barrel, and they're the top. Too many of us believe that our power gives us an edge, privileged or something like that."

I was less certain of wanting to sit in on this class now. Heck, living in this whole town was starting to sound like a bad idea. Why was Mom living here? She wasn't a mage, right? To think people like Lydia would use their powers to control me or use me in any such way was… scary. I've seen twisted people, and some of them actually did have magicka. Some of them used that magicka to do things to me that I learned to forget. "Um, maybe I should just stay away from your school then." Or move out of the town. "And maybe move somewhere else."

"Your call." He said. "But, I think…"

We were cut off as we heard screaming coming from the town. We had just entered the town, and we could see a crowd starting to gather up. "What's going on?"

"I don't know. Come on." He took my hand and started pulling me towards the crowd. "You see… there's a rule in town that…" He paused as he ears perked up. "Crap…" He pulled me harder as he raced for the crowd.

"Can you at least tell me why we're hurrying?" I asked as I tried to keep up with the sprinting boy with legs much longer than mine.

"I can't be sure but… you know? I can scent two of my friends ahead. And… if there's a crowd like this… that means… well… you're about to find out."

Find out? What was I about to find out? "Why? What's going on?"

He smirked. "You wanted to see what a firedrake was, right? I think… I think you're about to see two of them fight. And… they're not pushovers. One's an enchanter/alchemist, the other an Alteration specialist. Seeing those two fight should be entertaining." An enchanter? Alchemist? Alteration? Ugh… I don't know these things! And why would they be fighting? They were Ksaan's friends… so… were thy not friends with each other? Would they try to fight me next? Can I just go home and hide under my covers and forget this day ever started?

"Can I go home yet?" I found myself mumbling.

He turned to look down at me, smiling. "Come on, Ahmbra. Your day has only just begun. We'll make this a day worth remembering… and something you'll never have to cry about."

Oh man… now I feel like crap again. Why did you have to go and say that? I don't want to be remembered about that. Now, I knew I wanted nothing more than to go crawl into my hidey hole and forget I'm even alive. At least until Mom comes home and makes me feel better. I have a mommy now… I have someone who can actually help me get rid of all this pain… to make me feel better. I really needed that right now. I think that's what I really want right now. Just to crawl into my mom's lap and cry while she rubs my head and tells me that it will all be ok. But instead, I'm being dragged around by a teenage boy, excited to show me two of his friends fighting each other. Jeez… I can't wait to get home.

* * *

 **Cearbhail:**

This is only the first chapter. Things get a little better next chapter. We get to meet Ksaan's friends... and someone else.


	2. A Challenge

**Cearbhail:**

 _Welcome to the second chapter. When I first wrote this... it was all one giant chapter. 14 pages... and I was like... no. I'm not making them read this whole thing on one go. So, I broke it up and added more stuff to the chapters for character development and stuff. And thus... two chapters were born. I hope you enjoy this series. And... I will say this now, so everyone will know.  
_

 _Ahmbra will be joining a class of six Khajiits. So... I don't know who her classmates will be so... so... I am willing to accept OCs, names, genders, personalities, but they do have to be Khajiit. I don't care if they're senche, Cathay, Suthay, or any other species of Khajiit. It could be one of those tiny house cats, I think that might be funny. Anyway..._

 _=^^= Enjoy..._

* * *

[4e206, 29 Rain's Hand]

 _Dear Ysolda,_

 _Here are some helpful tips on how to raise an ex-slave. Now, I've had to ask Ruby for a lot of advice before I teleported this letter to you, but I think it's all things you should know about your new daughter. First thing you need to know… don't allow her to do anything that could remind her of her old life. It can and will lead to an emotional breakdown, one of which will not end until she can get out of until she can come to terms that her life is now different. Ruby had her breakdown before she met us… when she was still with her old friend. I guess we found her after her breakdown had finished. She told me that the night we spent in Dawnstar, after we saved the town from the Daedric Prince, she had another breakdown, one that she couldn't quite explain. I wasn't able to hear it because I was too busy getting plowed by Asger in the room next over. Come to think of it… I think the two events might be correlated._

 _Right, anyway… it's very important that you let Ahmbra just… unwind. Don't let her do any chores, or anything at all. She'll just go on doing all the stuff she did before, because that's all she's known. You need to show her how to be normal, so you should go on a trip or something soon after letting her relax for a week or so. I suggest taking her to do something she is quite fond of. The problem is… you won't know what she likes for a while. She probably won't know either. For the longest while, the only identity Ruby had… was her connection to crystals taught to her by her friend. That was all Ruby knew, all Ruby thought she was. Oh, and she liked collecting expensive things, but that was only because she realized she was free and she wanted to afford a nice house and live a great life. It was a phase that she quickly overcame. Ahmbra might go through something like that too. The main difference between Ruby and Ahmbra that I can think of is that Ahmbra was born a slave and… well… she already knew her parents. And she hates them. I don't know, and Ruby doesn't know, how this will develop later on. To be honest, it might not be an issue at all. But… I know for a fact that Ruby hates Khajiits… and Ahmbra might as well. Take care of her._

 _I guess the last thing I can offer is… just be there for her. Remind her that she can be whatever she wants to be, encourage her to pursue whatever she might want to take up. She's missed her whole life so far, and because of it will likely feel very empty or behind. She likely doesn't know what to do with herself now that she's your daughter. It's a role she's never had to play… being free is something she's never imagined. Having a home is something she's never had. And love… that's never been taught to her. She has no skills that aren't related to doing what she did in her past life, a life she will need to forget if she is ever going to recover. You have your work cut out for you, but I know you can do it. If you need help, just write to me. I'll teleport to you in a second. I hope to hear from you soon, and until then, take good care of yourself, Ralof, and Ahmbra._

 _Love you,_

 _Lydia Stonearm._

 _…_

I hated crowds, I can already tell. And this was a huge crowd. As we passed through it, I was elbowed, squished, someone stepped on my tail, and some little boy punched me while he was flailing his arms around as he complained about how big the crowd was. By the time we made it to the crowd, whatever was going on in the middle was in full bloom. Ksaan and I shouldered our way through the crowd, and it was then that I realized how small I was. I only came up to Ksaan's chest, and he was a few inches shorter than the normal Khajiit. Other Khajiits were hissing in what I think was anger, it's hard to tell. Tame slave Khajiits don't really make hissing sounds. We don't really do much of anything. The well trained pleasure slaves learn how to act seductively, and then you have slaves like me. Mostly serve people tea and stuff, paying close attention to traditional bowing and all that. But then you have moments when certain people request a certain kind of Khajiit and… well… you fit the bill. I'm not trained for it, but it doesn't really matter at that point, does it? I'm trained to clean, I'm trained to be traditional… I'm trained to keep quiet and stand still until I'm told what to do. And most slaves are. We're just… dolls. That's all we were. I never heard a Khajiit hiss once. Not until today. And I didn't like it.

"Oh no…" Ksaan said as he broke through the line. He face-palmed, looking into his hand. "Not again."

"What again?" I said as I pushed myself to the front of the line. Once I pushed past Ksaan, I could see what had this entire crowd of Khajiits and elves so worked up. Two Khajiits dressed in the same uniform as Ksaan were hissing at each other. One was a boy, the other was a girl. They both looked as old as Ksaan. These must be the friends Ksaan told me about. And that must mean… they're both firedrakes too. Spell-casters… like Lydia. And just looking around the wide open space where the two were staring each other down, I could see the reason everyone was giving them so much space. The ground around them was morphed and broken. You could tell there was a fight going on. Broken bottles and twisted poles of metal littered the floor. What on nirn happened?

"Yeah? And what are you going to do about it?" The girl asked.

"Maybe we'll just break up! I can't stand being your purrmate anymore!" The boy screamed. He reached into his combat rabi, pulling out three long poles of metal. What? Where did those come from? Those couldn't have fit in his robes!

The girl smirked. "Oh? This again? I'll just warp them like the last ones."

"Not if I enchant them to be resistant to your one specialty." He replied.

"You even dare… and I will make certain to lick your tail all night long when I kick your ass."

"You… how dare you use that against me…" He growled. "You swore you'd never tell anyone about that!"

She smirked. "Then let it go, kitty-witty. I don't want to fight you anymore."

"You can't get off that easily, _shansha_."

The entire crowd froze, and everything turned silent. The girl looked crushed. "You? You would call me _that_?" The ground around her started to shift. "No… you know what? That's it. We're officially over!"

"Eanrian, Hiarria. What's going on now?" Ksaan asked as he started drawing their attention to him.

Both of the Khajiits turned to look at Ksaan, and their eyes lit up. "Ksaan!" They both screamed in joy at seeing him.

"You're back!" The boy smiled. "Dude, you gotta help me with Hiarria. She's out of control, man."

"What? Since when? In fact… what control? You don't control me." She screamed at him. She looked at Ksaan. "Hey, Ksaan. Will you tell Ean to calm down? He's overreacting. Did you hear what he just called me? Hold him down, I need to teach him what that word means."

Ksaan sighed. "Just tell me what's going on. And then I'll decide how long I hold him down."

And they both started trying to out-scream each other while they quickly yelled out their sides of the story. I was so lost in everything that my head was spinning. I only wanted my bed. Can I just go back to my bed now? This was too much interaction for me. I'm done… I'm done for at least a week.

"We went to a party at Loshin's place after class Freedas night, you know, like we always do. Well, I turn my back and there I see Hia letting Loshin lick her neck all seductive like. Well, I decide to confront them, but then Ippy comes up to my face, pushing me up to a wall, demanding that I pay her my fine of being too cute. Then she starts making out with me. She used her Charm spell on me, putting me under her spell and I couldn't fight that, you know I can't fight Charm magicka. Well, as I'm trying to fight her control, Loshin is getting busy with Hia, and all I want is to get my purrmate and leave the party. Apparently, someone spiked the punch with moon nectar, so everything was hazy so…"

"You see, it was a simple mistake. We were at a party and we were drinking this spiked nectar I brought with me. You know, I thought it would be funny, well… it's so funny… I swear to you. There was ambrosia nectar accidentally mixed in with the moon nectar. I don't know how it happened, but… you know… shit happens from time to time. So, I'm drinking ambrosia, Loshy's drinking ambrosia… and you know… I somehow spilled some nacho cheese on my neck, and Loshy was just, you know… cleaning it off me. And… the ambrosia was taking effect, and I couldn't fight it, no one could fight it. I'm not sure any of us weren't unaffected. Well… I look over and Ean is sucking face with Ipyan…"

They were both talking at the same time, so listening to it… I really had no idea what was going on. But I did catch one word over and over again… and I'm very familiar with it. "Ambrosia? What's that?" It was a very strong word that sent chills down my back. Some of my sicker customers used to name me that, calling me their personal ambrosia. I never understood it; and I'm not sure I want to. Just hearing it again was forcing me to relive some of my sickest memories. I couldn't handle this anymore. I started to look behind me. That was a very large crowd… and going through it alone… trying to find my way back to Ksaan's house… it's too much. I can't stand this anymore. I think I'm beginning to hyperventilate. Everything's getting really wobbly. Was I about to pass out?

Ksaan looked over at me. "It's a drug… and a very potent one. It…well… you're a slave, so I guess I don't need to lie about this." He turned to face me. "Ambrosia is a drug that causes… jeez, how to explain this… increase in sexual pleasure?" He shrugged. Oh no… not that kind of explanation. No, please explain it somehow else! "But it's more than that. It… it messes with your mind. You suddenly… you just don't care who's in front of you so… you just move towards them and you enjoy it. Except…" Just shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up! He looked at Hiarria. "Where'd you get the bottle?"

I started reaching for my skirt, playing with the ruffles. I needed something to distract myself with. I had to think about something, anything! I need to sit down, need to be alone. I need… I need some quiet time.

The girl shrugged. "I don't know. I don't… remember. The night was fuzzy."

The boy sighed. "You would say that."

She shrugged even harder. "What more do you want me to say? I said I was sorry. It was a mistake! We were drugged! What do you want from me?"

"We promised not to bring any form of hallucinogenic to the party. And not only did you bring it… but you brought a banned drug into the party. And once our teachers find out… we'll be expelled."

"What? Nah." She scoffed at the idea, waving it off. "That's not going to happen. We only have a month left. There's no way we'll end up expelled over something like this."

"Oh really?" One of the spectators said. It was an older Khajiit, with leopard spots running around her neck and face, a tight braid running down the back of her neck. I watched her as she strolled into the through the crowd. Any thoughts I had running in my head were quickly tossed in the back of my mind. It was like she was projecting a calming aura. I found myself beginning to relax just by looking at her.

"Professor Ro'Prin!" The two Khajiits called out as the older Khajiit wandered over to them. Whatever aura she was projecting, these two Khajiits weren't falling for it.

She nodded. "Good morning, children. Your stories have been noted, and I want to see all four of you in my office… immediately. I will notify M'Ipyan and Ma'Loshin to come to my office as soon as we get to the school." She nodded to Ksaan. "Ma'Ksaan, welcome back."

"Ja'Ksaan, ma'am." Ksaan replied.

She smirked at that. "Not yet, Ma'Ksaan. Not yet. You still have to graduate before I will call you that." She stopped as she looked at me. She looked me over for a few seconds before nodding a welcome to me. She strolled right past the two Khajiits that were obviously in trouble, walking towards us. "Ok, everyone. Show's over. Get back to your lives." She looked at everyone in the crowd. There were some looks of disappointment, but no one contested her. The massive crowd began to disperse. And my tension became that much more tolerable.

As the crowd began to clear away, Ro'Prin turned to face us. "And you two…" She pointed to Ksaan and me. "Ma'Ksaan, who is this?"

Ksaan looked down at me. "Who this? This is Ahmbra, she's Ysolda's new daughter."

"Ah… the Nord chef." Ro'Prin nodded. "Mind if I look you in the eye?" I only shrugged before the older woman bent down to look me in the eye. She was pretty tall, I could tell, and she held herself as confidently as possible. She smelled of elder scent… which meant she had already made it to tribe mother status. "Look me in the eye, child." So, I stared into her eyes, her sharp crimson eyes. "Ah… there it is." She nodded. She patted me on the shoulder. "When are you starting?"

"Starting?" I asked as I looked from her to Ksaan. "Starting what?"

She looked from me to Ksaan. "When is she starting?"

He shrugged. "Ma'am… you're being cryptic again."

She looked down at me. "How old are you?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. Slaves don't really have birthdays…"

She hissed at the word 'slave'. "Oh… that explains the outfit then." What? Her too? Is wearing a yellow, magenta, green, blue tie dye ruffled blouse with pink and blue plaid arm sleeves and a white/green/bright purple splotched skirt really that bad? "Come with me, both of you. Ksaan, we need to discuss your make-up exam, and you… girl… I… hmm." She rubbed her chin, dismissing it. "I'll get to you when we get to my office. And you two…" She pointed back at Hiarria and Eanrian. "You know how all conflicts in RFA are handled. I expect to see you both in the courtyard before class starts."

"But… ma'am!" Eanrian said. "I don't want to fight her."

"Yes, ma'am!" Hiarria said very enthusiastically. She punched him on the shoulder. "You don't stand a chance! And when I win, you have to play the punishment game. If I win… you have to…" She whispered into his ear, which I saw them fold back in fear when he heard her request. I wonder what she asked him to do. I bet I've done worse.

As Ro'Prin started to leave, Ksaan and his two friends started to follow behind her. I guess they were all heading to class. I didn't have much choice so I followed beside Ksaan as we followed Ro'Prin. "So… what's going on?" Of course, I was referring to why Ro'Prin was interested in me, but I can never tell what Ksaan is assuming what going on I'm talking about. So, I thought I'd specify for once. "Why is Ro'Prin interested in me?"

Ksaan shrugged. "Not sure. But… she's weird so… whatever."

She glanced back at us briefly before turning her head back around. I studied her a bit as I walked beside Ksaan. Exactly who was she? I know Ksaan is training to be a mage, but… she's a professor? That's a teacher, right? She knows Ksaan, even mentioned a make-up exam so… maybe one of his teachers? Was she a mage too? And if she's a professor, I'm guessing she's pretty good at it. I didn't exactly get any sort of magicka vibe from her so… what exactly was going on anyway?

I looked over at Ksaan. That was something else too. So… I'm living with this boy. I don't really know that much about him, but… in the past day that I've known him, we're… friends? Are we? What are we? I mean, he doesn't really seem all bad of a person but still… I just don't know. We only know each other because my family is crashing at his place for now. "So…" I said as I tried to start a conversation. What was I going to ask? What was I going to say? Why was I even doing this? I guess having one friend would be nice. If I'm going to live here, I might as well know someone that I can do things with. Kids do things with other kids, right? I'm guessing that's true, because he seems to know the other kids his age, and he did mention 'hanging out' with them. I know enough to know that means just doing things with each other. Umbra used that term a lot when I started to get undressed in front of him. "We're just hanging out." He would say before I could pull my clothes off.

So… I'm just uncomfortable with this whole situation so far. I'm not used to this… being normal thing. I'm used to being a tool, being told where to go, who to do, and how to dress. My first act of rebellion was stomping on Ksaan's picked out outfit and wearing all the most obnoxious colors he can't stand, so… I think I'm getting used to being my own person, but is that person someone who does things just to mess with others? Or?... I really don't know yet. I just need more time. Speaking of which, I hated that my first real introduction to him was me bawling my eyes out. I needed to talk to him about that sometime.

"Can I go home now?" I asked Ksaan.

He glanced at me, arching his eyebrows. "Are you sure?"

I shrugged. "I don't know." I really don't know. I don't know what I want; I don't know what I need. I just… I can't. I just can't even. That's it. I can't even. I don't know what I can't even, but I know I can't.

The teacher glanced back at me, smirking. "Young one, you can go back home if you wish but… before you go…" She turned to face me. "I would like to challenge you to a duel."

"What?" Ksaan hissed. He stepped in front of me. "Professor! You can't duel a non-ranked civilian. It's against the rules!"

"Duel? Non-ranked citizen? What?" I asked Ksaan. He glanced at me with a worried look.

The professor nodded. "I know I can't. I prefer to think of this as… well… a test." The ground around her started to shake. And… something felt weird. Like that moment where I looked at Lydia. The second before she told me to duck and cover my head. The second before she blew up the slave camp with her snow magic. It was that same sensation… the same… warning. "And tests… are perfectly legal in this town."

Ksaan turned to look at me, grabbing my shoulders to turn me to look him in the eye. "Remember when I said this town has a rule? Well… everyone in town is a mage so… well… there's a ranking system. The higher rank mage you are… the better life you pretty much get to live. It's a town dedicated to studying magicka and developing our training program. And our academy… we're really strict about staying on top of the other academies here. So… to keep our dominance, Rimmen decided to allow public duels, but only between ranked mages. And every duel can be declined, but if you allow yourself to fight, you can usually advance in rank. The other way is to actually display your abilities to any institute. They'll usually take you as a sponsor and help train you up. The more students they have with high rank… the more funding they get. The more power they get… the more control over the town… they will get. And the Aldmeri Magicka Institute is pushing to become one. If they win… they take control of Rimmen. And they will make it secede from Elsweyr and turn itself over to the Aldmeri Dominion for full control. My academy is the only thing keeping them from doing that. So… from time to time, our professors will look for sources of strong magicka… and challenge them to an official duel, to force out their potential magical capabilities. You… you don't have to do this, Ahmbra. You can get hurt, and you've never studied any magicka."

Wow… that was a lot to process. I don't know what to do, but all I heard was, "I accept.", crawling out of my mouth. What? Why would I say that? And I could see the look in Ksaan's face. He looked slightly crushed at my choice of wording.

"So… you accept?" Professor Ro'Prin asked.

I glanced over at her. The very ground was pulling off the ground around her, gathering into a dust storm around her. She was outright scary. And… Ksaan was right; I had no training in magicka at all. I didn't know what to do. I looked at my hands. I didn't feel anything, but… isn't that normal? I never used anything magicka before. I looked to my belt. My never ending bag that Umbra gave to me was still hanging off it. I always carried my sword and armor with me. But… I'm really weak, and small. That stuff wouldn't help me now. I guess I had only one option. "Well, I guess not." I said to the woman. "I don't…"

I was cut off as a rock slammed into my stomach, throwing me off my feet. Where did that come from? As I fell straight to the ground, I caught a glimpse of a rock pillar that had risen from the ground. Is that what hit me? I glanced up at Ro'Prin to see that she was taking a weird stance, sliding her feet from the ground, raising her hands in front of her. Did she do that? Was this her magicka? That was when I slammed hard against the dirt road. Every ounce of air in my lungs exploded out my mouth in a cough of pain.

"Dear…" Ro'Prin said as I lied on the ground. "You will need to work harder if you wish to win this duel."

"Professor is a Level 5 Firedrake…" Hiarria said from somewhere behind me. "She's at the top level this city has. How is this even a fair fight?"

"It's not." Eanrian replied. "But… if she was taking this seriously, that girl would already have lost. It's like she said… it's a test."

I groaned as I started to push myself up on my feet. "I don't know any magicka!" I screamed to Ro'Prin.

"Oh, I'm quite aware of that." She said as she slid forward. Something slammed me from underneath me, hitting me hard enough that I flew off the ground up onto my feet. I managed to catch myself before I toppled over again. It wasn't good enough though. The very ground underneath me seemed to shift. My feet slid apart, pulling me down into a split. "It is air?" She asked as two rock pillars rose from the ground, slamming me in my split legs, hitting me right below my knees. It forced me to fall back down, hitting my head on the dirt road. "No…" She replied. "Fire?"

I didn't know what she was talking about but as I tried to spin myself around to stand up, a giant cloud of dirt began flying into my face. Tiny bits of rocks were hitting me with just enough force to annoy me. Hundreds of tiny rocks hitting every inch of my face, never pausing. I tried my best to swat them away, but I found my efforts meaningless. I couldn't beat thousands of little objects that weren't even alive by swatting at them blindly. As this went on for a few seconds, I found myself growing more and more annoyed at it. "Stop it!" I screamed as I swatted at the mobilizing swarm of tiny rocks.

"Hmm… should have manifested by now. Not earth either… so…" There was a pause before she said, "Must be water."

"Professor, please tell me you're not going to…" Ksaan started to say. I really wish I knew what was going on, I couldn't open my eyes out of fear that the rocks would fly in there. The tiny particles of rocks stopped slamming into me and I peeked a glance. They were falling to the ground, back to being lifeless. When I looked up though, I could see a giant floating wave of mud floating all around me. A lot of mud. And with everything else that had happened to me already, I think I knew where this was going.

"Oh…oh come on…" I started to say as the mud all came crashing down on top of me. And… it happened. Looking down… I think I should have dressed in the outfit Ksaan picked out for me. Just to spite him right now.

"Nope, not water either." Ro'Prin said with a sigh. "Not air…fire, earth, or fire. This is weird. Those are all the traditional Khajiit elements. Oh well. Only one last element worth checking. With such a traditional aura about her… it has to be this. I'm staking her life on it." She reached into her pocket, pulling out a small round coin. "If you can't stop this… you will die."

I looked down at my muddy arms. "I might be ok with that by now." Why did I even bother leaving my room today? And my new favorite outfit… ruined. I started the day with crying my eyes out, being reminded of every bad thing that ever happened… and to top it off, I got beat around by a mage and covered in mud. I hate this town. Jeez, how can this day get any worse? Oh yeah… I could die. As long as it ends, I don't care right now.

I looked back up at the professor, seeing her aiming a small coin at me. "You can't dodge this… not when it's under my control. And if you can't stop this… you will die. You shouldn't have come to Rimmen, little girl." Yeah… tell me about it.

I think I pretty much figured that out myself by now. And I didn't have a chance to protest her firing her coin at me. It was already flying out of her hand at straight to me. It wasn't a speeding arrow, but it was moving fast enough that if I blinked, it would already be over. I didn't have a choice but to stand there and watch. Time seemed to slow down and the coin just seemed to hover mid-flight to me.

I remember when Umbra taught me how to fight. In the countless battles he lived through, he said the only salvation he had during a massive war was his ability to clear his mind and just let the battle instinct take over. He survived a lot worse than a little coin flying at him. He would dodge… but I knew that I couldn't just dodge this. She could control its movements, which meant… even if I jumped to the side, it would just follow me wherever I turned. So… I guess I'm going to die then? I finally get myself a family and on my first day in a new town… I get killed by a teacher?

Time sped back up and the coin continued to fly at me. And I continued to stand there, wide-eyed and covered in mud. I closed my eyes and tried my best to let go. Just let go of everything. And I heard the coin slam into something. I felt it crash into my forehead, but lightly. I thought that it was the end… I was dead. But… it just sat there. When I opened my eyes, I looked around. The professor looked amazed.

"Well, I was going to just flick you light enough to cause a lump but… it would seem I was right." She turned to Ksaan. "Did you see that?"

Ksaan nodded. "Yeah… I saw it. I don't believe it… but I saw it."

"Saw what?" I asked. And as I did so, the coin fell off my forehead, falling onto the ground. In the center of the coin was a char mark. It was almost melted through. What happened?

"Shock magicka." Ro'Prin announced. "We have a Level 1… electromancer." She turned to face Ksaan. "I will leave it to you to get her signed up for classes. You have one month to train her. This will be your make-up exam. Do not fail, Ma'Ksaan. Or you, little M'Ahmbra." She said, looking down at me with a warm smile.

"What's going on?" I looked at her and then at him.

Ksaan looked over at me. "Well… you're a mage. Congrats." He punched me lightly in my shoulder. I'm a mage? I'm like Lydia? I'm like Ksaan? How?

Professor Ro'Prin nodded. "Indeed. I plan on seeing you during the entrance exam in a month, on the 25th of Second Seed, at 10:00 AM. Do be there on time. And we'll see about learning what you're really capable of." She turned on her heel. "Now… Ma'Ksaan, M'Ahmbra, you two will follow me to the academy. Ma'Ksaan, from there you will take her to get her some fresh clean clothes, and perhaps a tour of the academy. And then… bring her to your class. She can watch what we do, and make up her mind from there. You two…" She looked at the quarrelling couple. "I will see you two in the courtyard. If you really wish to fight… you will do it correctly."

Hiarria looked happy. "Yay… punishment time!" She clapped her hands. "You're so going to pay for calling me a _shansha_. You want me to be a _shansha_ … well… during our punishment game… I show you a _shansha_ …" She happily cooed to Eanrian.

"Not again…" His ears drooped.

I kind of wanted to watch their duel. Just to see what these two students are capable of. I haven't seen anyone except Lydia and Ro'Prin demonstrate any magicka at all. I wonder what Ksaan can do. He' s a senior student… which I guess means he's very powerful. I'm not sure. These other students were probably seniors too. I wonder how strong they were. But… I'm a mage too? I wonder how strong I am.

"Now, keep up." Ro'Prin said as she turned on her heel. "Class is an hour from now. If we wish to get down with the tour and extract true punishment, we must move now." I guess we'll just get through this first; I'll worry about everything else later.

* * *

 **Cearbhail:**

So, that's the second chapter, which used to be all one chapter. So, see you soon with the third chapter. Once I close Ruby.


	3. Premonition

**Cearbhail:**

 _I'm back with the third chapter. Nothing much to say about it really. Hmm... nope nothing. Oh well.  
_

 _=^^= Enjoy..._

* * *

Ugh…

What time is it? What day is it? My head is pounding away to all sorts of throbs.

"Ahmbra, you're finally awake." I could hear Mom say. When I opened my eyes, I could see her standing over me, looking down at me with worried eyes. Ysolda… the woman that adopted me. She was an odd one, but I can't complain. She did adopt me after all. And, even though Ruby warned me about her eccentrics, I haven't seen any sign of them yet. I've been living with her for a week now… and I think I would have noticed something like that. Forcing me to dress up in cute dresses, rubbing her face on my fur… she's done nothing of the sort… yet. I trust Ruby enough to know that she wouldn't lie about stuff like that. That being said, I can tell that Mom is a bit… odd. I mentioned the whole getting grabbed by dragons every few days or so… but… that's not totally uncommon, I guess.

Mom wrapped her arms around me as I started to sit up. I… I didn't recognize the place I was sleeping in. White walls, clean bed with clean white sheets with a blue blanket. A large window with a beach overview. Where were we? Looking around, I could see a small table with a stack of charts and whatnot. A piece of paper had what looked like a drawing of my body, outlined with different colors and waves. Stuff I didn't know anything about. It looked like an art student drew my portrait and then colored it in with every coloring pencil ever known.

Mom just continued hugging me while Dad and Ksaan walked over to me. M'aiq was the room too, looking at me from the corner of the room. "Healer! She's awake." M'aiq screamed out the doorway.

It was a few seconds before a few people walked through the door. One of them was Ro'Prin. Behind her was an even older Khajiit woman. She wore some heavy robes; long dreadlocks of gray mane dragged on the floor behind her. You could tell she was pretty old by the way she leaned on her cane as she slowly crawled into the room. Behind her was a younger Khajiit. He looked about as old as Ksaan. When he looked over towards Ksaan and nodded, I pretty much surmised they knew each other.

"Hey, Ksaan. You missed class." The Khajiit said as he walked in.

Ro'Prin glanced back at the boy. "It wouldn't be the first one this semester. Ma'Ksaan has promised to make up for the missing semester with a summer semester. He will still graduate with the rest of you. I'm well guaranteed of his excellence during the final exam." She looked from the boy over to me. "Well, it is good to see you are awake, little one."

Mom released me from her hug as she turned to look at the boy. "Ma'Loshin. You mind looking her over now that she's awake?"

He nodded as he walked across the room over to me. So… this was that Loshin character Ksaan told me about. He was a pretty built teenage jaguar Cathay with long spiky blue and black mane fur. In fact, I think most of us were Cathay. Since I've been here, I haven't seen many Suthay or otherwise. Sure, I think I saw one Cathay-raht: that massive guy I was crushed into while trying to pass through the crowd earlier today. In fact, I think the only different species in this room would be the old woman. She was clearly a Suthay, which was a shorter version of Cathay. I haven't seen many of them… and you can only really tell by the smell. The scent is what tells us. Just a different breed, you know? Some are genetically taller, some are shorter. I'm Cathay.

I found myself shaking my head as I looked back at Loshin as he walked over to me. He placed a thumb on my forehead, pushing just hard enough to make me involuntarily fall back onto the bed. My body felt very relaxed as he started pushing his thumb harder on my forehead. I could feel stuff going on inside my head. With a twist of his thumb, he placed a finger on my cheek, right under my right eye. I felt more tingling sensation in my face. My left arm started to twitch. He reached over with his other hand, grabbing my hand, pressing down on the space between my thumb and index finger. My body exploded internally as something light lightning coursed through me.

"Connection complete." Loshin said. His eyes were bright silver, glaring right through me. I could feel stuff inside me moving around, reaching every inch of my body. I can't say I hated the feeling, but… I really didn't like it either. It did feel calming, but at the same time, it felt foreign to me. I felt like I was suffocating on whatever was going on inside me. And I couldn't move one bit. Whatever Loshin was doing, he was in control of me this very second. I was reminded of Ksaan telling me to avoid being near this guy. He could make me do things… and I could see how now. He could literally shut down my body. That was not a good thing.

"So…" Mom asked as she looked over at Loshin. "What's going on inside her?"

Loshin shook his head. "Nothing out of the ordinary. The fever has passed, her energy quelled for the time being." He shifted his hand, his thumb pressing even harder into my head. "I'm going to try something else." I don't know how he did it; I can't even remember what he did. But I ended up on my back. I could feel a thumb pressed on the base of my spine and one at the spot where my head met my neck. My head felt very… woozy. I think woozy is a good word for this. I couldn't focus, I could barely breathe. I couldn't move my body on my own. I don't know what this is, but I don't like it anymore. "Found something." Loshin said, and I felt his fingers release their hold on me.

I was suddenly able to push myself up, fighting the urge to vomit. "So… what is it?" Mom asked as she looked from me over to him. "Why did she suddenly just… pass out like that?"

Loshin looked over to the old woman. "Dra'Vio? You knew, didn't you?"

Ro'Prin glanced over to her as well. "Is that why you told me to travel to the market place today? To find the girl with rainbows in her clothes?"

The old woman, Dra'Vio, smirked. "Perhaps. I saw something… and sent you to find it. It would seem you have." Her cane smacked lightly on the floor tile as she walked over to me. "There is much she can learn here."

I was practically stuck in my spot on the bed as she walked over to me. Just like before with Loshin, she placed a hand on my forehead. I didn't feel anything invasive enter me; no feeling of something holding me still. I just felt a warm hand resting on my head. I could hear whispers all around me though. Thoughts started to form in my mind. Me standing in front of a building I would call home… a massive arrow flying right towards us. In my hand… a tiny coin. And then… with a beam of light…

My vision faded away. I was brought back to the bed where I sat there… looking at the old woman. "The Mythical Ballista has arrived." The old woman spoke lightly.

Ro'Prin growled at the mention of that name. "Then that means…"

Dra'Vio nodded. "The time is now. Enroll her for the next semester; as well as the summer camp."

"Wait!" I screamed as I looked between the two of them; Ro'Prin and Dra'Vio. "What are you two talking about?" There was something the two of them knew… and it involved me. And I hated that they were talking around whatever it was instead of just telling me what it was in front of me. I'm not living that kind of life. I'm not one for just sitting in the shadows while everyone but ME knows what's going on.

Ro'Prin looked down at me. I think she knew what I wanted to hear, and I think she knew more or less how I felt about being left in the dark. "War." Ro'Prin said. "It has begun." She turned on her heel. As she started pacing around the room, she continued to look up at the ceiling. "It was some… what 10 years ago?"

"13." Dra'Vio said with certainty.

Ro'Prin nodded. "Ah, that long already?" She shook her head. "Up until that time, Rimmen was a safer place to live in. All the races lived in harmony, studying magicka as purely as it was intended to be studied here in Rimmen. That is… until the Aldmeri Dominion attacked. 13 years ago." She looked out the window, looking oddly away as if she was reliving a memory. It took a few seconds before she looked back down at me. "Sorry." She glanced around at us. "I don't know Illusion magicka. I guess I'll have to describe it for you."

She cleared her throat. "You see… there was always an Aldmeri academy of some sort. Elves wanted to study without the strict guidance of the elven leaders. And we let them. Well, one day, several other institutions that were not elven in nature were attacked. Altmer and Bosmer dressed in black robes resembling the Aldmeri Dominion. They attacked us… burned us… froze us… and trapped us in Illusions greater than anyone here could cast. I was in my senior class back then. My class and I took the fight to them, Dra'Vio leading us. Back then, she was Jo'Vio… our master fortune teller."

"Fortune teller?" I said as I looked over to the old woman. "Really?"

She nodded. "I see the future, little one. I use it to my advantage in combat… as well as counselling students on their studies."

Ro'Prin nodded. "And it was because of her ability for prophecy that my class and I were able to defend our town against the Dominion. We managed to drive the Dominion away but…"

"I saw a future. One where the Dominion would return, stronger than ever. All when a girl with lightning in her fur and in her claws would come to us. The Mythical Ballista." Dra'Vio closed her eyes. "And now is that time. You are here… and you have shown yourself to me. I know you are her. I see the lightning within you. As does Loshin."

Loshin nodded. "I did a full scan of her auric body. There's so much lightning magick within her. And something else. Something… magnetic."

Dra'Vio scoffed as she turned away. "The aura is nothing but magnetic energy pulses, Ma'Loshin. Her lightning is the manifestation of her auric magicka. She is a Level 1 Electromancer."

Ro'Prin nodded. "I will get the paperwork ready for her to fill out."

"Wait!" Mom screamed as she made everyone around us pause. "What paperwork?"

Ro'Prin looked back at her, shrugging. "To join Rimmen Firedrake Academy. As a student."

Mom shook her head. "And what if she doesn't want to?" She looked down at me. "Doesn't my daughter get the right to say 'no'?"

Everyone looked down at me. I couldn't believe what I had just heard. A whole prophecy built around me… and I could remember the vision I just had. Me… standing in front of a building I would call home… holding out a coin just like Ro'Prin had… and then…

I couldn't remember the rest. I don't think I could even if I tried now. But I did know one thing… I was wearing the same training robes I saw on Ksaan's friend: Hiarria. That would mean… in my vision I was already part of the school in that vision. And… I wanted to know more about my magicka. What I had done… the thing I did during the duel… I wanted to know more about it. I wanted to know more about what I was capable of. Thoughts of the old slavers were starting to rear their ugly heads. And then I thought of Ruby… of Lydia. They stood up to their enemies, and used their magicka to defeat the bad guys.

I looked down at my claws. I'm not strong. I'm not very fast. I'm not very much of anything. If… If I was captured again, forced to live through the stuff like Ruby had been forced to… I wouldn't be able to do much to protect myself. And… this… whatever it was inside of me… this magicka I seem to have… if I ignore it; I'm really just ignoring a part of me. "Will you teach me how to become stronger?"

I glanced up at Ro'Prin. She nodded at me. "Your teachers are experts on helping students realize their potential. Look no further than Ma'Ksaan, Ma'Loshin. They're the senior class, and when they came here, they were just like you. Uncertain of who they were, what they could become. This institute is more than just a school for learning magicka… is a place students learn more about themselves. I must warn you… if you agree to study here, you will have to work as part of your tuition. This is not a free ride; and you _will_ work outside of your classes."

"Absolutely not!" Mom screamed. "She needs to relax! She needs to learn how to be a child again!"

Ro'Prin looked over towards Mom smiling politely as she did so. "Being surrounded by children in our classroom will do that. She will learn how to be a child, as well as how to be a mage."

Mom stood there, speechless. She finally looked over towards Dad. "Ralof! Aren't you going to say something?"

He shrugged. "I bet no one even knew I was standing here the whole time." He glanced over at me, smiling warmly. "And you, Ahmbra? What is it _you_ want?"

What was it I wanted? Friends… learning magicka… a home… my family… Every one of those. A normal place to work… earn money for myself… without feeling like a slave in the process. I wanted those things. Something close to what normal feels like. I've already tried not doing things. And all I got was curling up into a ball and crying. Not having anything to do was not helping me recover. I needed to keep busy, find a new thing to do. I looked up at Ro'Prin. "So… this job… what would it be?"

She smiled as she pulled out a folder. "In exchange for a full semester, students are asked to work at one of several sponsoring places throughout town. This is only for the first and second year students, you see. The third year and fourth year students are too busy studying for their field training assignments, and therefore have free education at that point. Sure, they make their money by doing quests, often class quests every weekend or so, and then split up the bounty however they wish. But, since it is quite dangerous, all first and second years are forbidden from doing any quests ranked higher than Level 3. If you decide to do quests as a form of work for your employer… you are restricted to your Level of magicka growth. You're Level 1, remember? You are forbidden to do anything above Level 1 quests."

She placed the folder in my hands. I opened it up to see a list of different places, all with a picture of the place, where it was on a map of the city, and a small description of the kind of work I would be doing inside the place. I saw a place where you would be working on a moon sugar plantation farm called The Spice of Life. It doubled as a pub that used their moon sugar to make their own version of moon milk. The pay was pretty good, and it seemed like an easy job. I just couldn't see myself standing outside in the sun all day pulling sugar cane of out the ground and putting new ones in a ditch filled with water. Ugh… that sounded horrible.

I looked at a few other places on the piece of paper. Some stuff involving heavy lifting… no. Working at a local super market stocking shelves. No. There was also an agency called the Mage Force. They were basically a local specialized protection force that helped defend the city. That sounded like something I would like to do. Oh… It requires you to be at least a Level 3 user in order to take the position. There were a few things that followed that, including another organization quite unlike the Mage Force. It was just called… The Trade. It was an organization that handled a bunch of quests for adventurers to take on. It required that you take on requests that were only your level, or lower. I'm Level 1… that meant a bunch of cheap jobs that would not be very challenging. But still… it might be fun.

I was about to select the Trade job until my eyes settled down on an image of a small café called Moon's Delights. It had a small appeal to it. I could see a happy family standing in front of the café: a mother, a dad, and a girl around my age waving at the artist. Behind them were a few other Khajiits all dressed up in maid's uniforms, all bowing to the artist. According to the article, Moon's Delights was a local bakery and café. I think I knew what to expect with this. I could expect to dress up in a maid uniform, something I'm very accustomed to, and serving as a hostess… only without all the other stuff that happened. This could be something I could use to help ease myself into a new situation while helping myself recover from the past. Or… it could severely cripple me. One of the two.

Either way, I pointed down at Moon's Delights. "I'll take this one."

Mom's eye shot up. "No. Absolutely not! Lydia told me not to let you do _anything_ that would remind you of your past. And that… that _is_ your past."

I nodded as I looked up at her. "Yes. It is… kind of. I don't think there will be any of the bad stuff happening there, and… I think that it would be good for me to make that realization. That… I can move past it. That it's behind me. My new life begins now. And I want to embrace my new life, not hide from it." I looked up at Ro'Prin. "I want to attend Rimmen Firedrake Academy. I want to begin my new life." I looked over at Mom. "If… if you're ok with it, I mean."

She glanced down at me for a few seconds. I could tell she was weighing everything she thought she knew. She finally sagged into a shrug, exhaling sharply. "If it will make you happy… of course." She wrapped me up in a tight hug. And then… she started petting me on the back of my mane. "My cute little daughter is going to work where I work, and she'll be wearing a cute maid's uniform." Oh… yup. Just like Ruby described it. Oh well, I don't hate it. First sign of affection anyone has really given me. I could learn to love having a family. Learn? Heck, I already do love having a family. I just have to get used to it first.

While I stayed in my hospital bed, Ro'Prin headed back to her office to retrieve the paperwork for me to fill out. Meanwhile, Loshin was telling me the reason I was in the hospital in the first place. "You see… when you activated your magicka, it had been the first time you've ever used it. It drained you pretty quickly and before you knew it, you had already exhausted yourself. There was no way of knowing, but I heard you fell asleep pretty quickly after the duel had ended. Professor Ro'Prin carried you back to the school where you could be scanned appropriately without having any worries about prying Dominion agents. Since your prophecy told of your return, we're very certain they're already watching you."

The elder Khajiit nodded, her long dreadlocks dragging along the floor. "She will face Dominion agents soon. Their prophet is aware of her. They are already watching her."

"Watching her?" Mom echoed. "Is she even safe at home anymore?"

Dra'Vio shook her head. "More than likely… not. But still, we can't imprison her, but we can do something a little… different." She looked over at Ksaan. "Fourth Year Student Ma'Ksaan…"

Ksaan rolled his eyes. "You want me to be Ahmbra's little bodyguard."

She nodded. "Correct… in a way." She looked over at me and then back to him. "I wish for you to show the girl how to handle combat herself. You have one summer. This is your final project for the graduating year. Teach her to protect herself, and… if she can pass into her Level 2 Electromancer test before the end of your summer semester… we will grant you a full recommendation to Torval's Firedrakes."

Ksaan nodded his thanks to her. "I will consider it. Thank you." He looked over at me. "Well, I guess you'll be my student for a while. Are you ok with that?"

I didn't have much objection to it. I didn't really know anyone else in the town, and Ksaan was… was he strong in magicka? It's not like I've seen him fight or anything like that. " _Can_ you teach me?"

I guess the question made Loshin burst out laughing because as soon as I said it, he turned around, coughing into his hand as he tried to hold a laugh. Ksaan didn't think the joke was all that funny though. He glanced over at Loshin, who was holding his laugh pretty well. When Loshin finally let his coughing fit die down, he glanced over at me. "Little girl… can I call you little girl?" I shrugged. "Well, little girl, Ksaan is the top of our class. No one can defeat him in combat. His Aunt Clara… she was the fourth year teacher for ten years, the strongest in our class. She taught Ksaan everything he knows about magicka. And his father, M'aiq… taught him all the martial arts he knows. Ksaan is perhaps one of our strongest fighters we have."

Ksaan looked away. "I'm not the best fighter when I'm fighting Zharrim. His Sanctuary ability is beyond what I can do. And Bhiia's magicka is far superior to my own."

Loshin shrugged. "Perhaps, but… think about it. Bhiia can do more with her magicka, sure… but she can't fight for crap. And Zharrim can make his little pocket dimensions, but he can't do anything more combative than that."

Ksaan shrugged. "Sure. I guess you got me there. I'm a fighter, and my magicka is pretty combative."

Mom glanced over at Ksaan. "How does your personal magicka manifest anyway? Ever since I've moved here, I've seen some pretty crazy stuff. I wonder how yours manifests."

Ksaan held out his hand. He cupped his hand as his palm began to glow. When he opened his hand up, I could see a small round orb of light sitting in his hand. The colors of the orb, rainbow, shifted like a swirling cloud of multi-colored mists. It looked very pretty. "Ooh… pretty." I said as I went to touch the orb.

Ksaan jerked his hand away. "No! Don't touch them. They're explosive. They're fire energy. They turn into fiery little explosions, strong enough to blast holes through steel. But… that's not all I can do." He let the orb vanish. With a quick breath, a small flame appeared in his hand. It glowed with the same multi-colored flame. "I can also use this rainbow flame. It's very hot, also can melt through metal. And… I can make any metal explosive by feeding my flame into it. I've used it on cans. I can turn cans into a very potent explosive device. I call it an FED. A flame explosive device."

Mom nodded her head. "I have to admit, that's a pretty nice magicka ability you have there. Better than that one girl I heard about. The one that has to keep her hands covered at all times because she basically drains your life out of your hands with one touch."

I don't think anyone noticed that Loshin's ears folded back. "Yeah… her." He glanced away before forcing a smile and looking back at Ksaan. Loshin smiled as he clasped a hand on Ksaan's shoulder. "Yup. He's pretty fun at parties. We call him the Firecracker, because of his ability to make metal explode… as well as his firecracker ability of making those orbs of collected explosive fire."

Ksaan let his fire die. "Well, there you go. Think I have what it takes to teach you how to do your own personal magicka?"

I guess I didn't have much else to think about. Ksaan had someone teach him, and I sure don't really know much about what I can do. And I'm already living with the boy until the house is cleaned up. I guess I could let him try. "Sure. I'll let you be my tutor, I guess."

Dra'Vio nodded solemnly. "And so… the path to your destiny has taken its first step."

Ro'Prin walked back into the room, carrying a small piece of paper with her. "Here you go. Just fill out your name, breed, birthday, your address, your personal magicka, and your current level. You're Level 1, currently. Then sign and date. I'll inform the owners of Moon's Delights of your semester working with them. When I get your schedule, I will personally deliver it to you."

I took the form from her and began filling it out. _Ahmbra Dragonis..._ _Cathay…_ Um… oops. I totally forgot. I don't have a birthday. I don't even know how old I am. "I can't fill this out completely. I don't have a birthday."

The old Khajiit smirked as she closed her eyes. "Ahmbra Dragonis was born on the 16th of Second Seed, 4e 194. She is currently 11 years old." What? Really? Wow. I had no idea I was 11 years old.

Ro'Prin rubbed her chin. "Too young then. Curses."

Dra'Vio shook her head. "Not so. Her birthday is only a month away. By the time the first semester begins, she will already be 12. The youngest she can be to join."

Ro'Prin nodded. She smiled. "That is true. We do have younger students all the time joining at that age."

"And let us not forget Anurki. She joined when she was 10." Ksaan said.

Ro'Prin shrugged at that. "But… she was a Level 5 when she joined. She could have graduated if she wanted to without even attending a class. And we _still_ had to have her fill out a lot of waivers to let her in." She looked over at me. "M'Ahmbra doesn't even know her own potential yet. You have to be at least Level 2 to join. We're pulling a lot of strings and breaking a lot of rules to get her in this semester."

Ksaan shrugged. "I will make sure she's Level 2 by the time of the entrance exam one month from now. I guarantee it." He looked over at me. "You hear me? I'm training you. I'll make sure you're ready for that exam."

Make sure I'm ready for the exam? I'm still running on the fact that I know how old I am, finally. Eleven years old. And I'm turning 12 in a month. Wow. I looked back at the old woman as I put the quill down on the form. "So… what was my birthday again?"

"4e 194, 16th Second Seed." I wrote it on the form as she said it to me for the second time. And I tried my best to memorize it. I'm going to have my first birthday party this year, I'll make sure of it. I have a family, at least one potential friend… and now I have a day to celebrate my birth on. This can't get any better.

As I finished up my form, I passed it over to Ro'Prin. She looked it over, checking for any errors before nodding. "And there we have it. Since you're still a Level 1 practitioner, you will have to pass your entrance exam in order to be accepted completely into this academy. Practice, M'Ahmbra. It's not easy getting started, but once you figure out the gist of your magicka… getting to Level 2 and 3 is pretty easy. Getting to Level 4 and especially 5… is not. See you in one month."

I nodded as I looked over to Ksaan. I couldn't even wait another second to get started on my new training. "Well… what's first?"

* * *

 **Cearbhail:**

Man, this is boring. How about I spice it up somehow?


	4. Make a Mage Out of You

**Cearbhail:**

 _This took me a while. I knew what I wanted, and I had to think of a way to make it happen.  
_

 _=^^= Enjoy..._

* * *

 _Dear diary,_

 _Yesterday was something. I spent the day with Ksaan walking around Rimmen; he was showing me around town. And while we were out, we bumped into his friends and his teacher. His teacher purposefully challenged me to a magic duel, and I got my butt kicked pretty badly. I ended up passing out after using some amount of magicka to defend myself and woke up in a hospital bed. Ksaan's teacher stopped by once I woke up and pretty much offered me an opportunity to study at Rimmen Firedrake Academy next year, provided I could pass the entrance exam in one month._

 _I had to think about the offer for a few seconds. Honestly, it didn't take me too long to say 'yes' to the offer. There were some strings attached though. I had to get a sponsored job that would function as my tuition to the university, and I had been warned that I was attached to some prophecy about the Aldmeri Dominion trying to take over the town, or something like that. So, honestly, there wasn't much I could do but say 'yes'. And I'm not really upset by any of it. When I dueled Ksaan's teacher, Ro'Prin, I was surprised at how I managed to stop a flying coin without doing anything. And when they said it was some form of magicka… I was interested in finding out what I did, and how I could do it again. It also helped that I've watched Lydia do some of her own magicka from time to time. I got to see her save my entire camp's life because of the things she could do. And I want to do the same thing someday. I want to be that person who could stand up to a corrupt organization, a slave camp, and free the slaves._

 _When I agreed to attend RFA, I was warned that the Dominion was probably already watching me. They might try to hurt me. So… Ksaan has been named as my summer supervisor. He's going to help me prepare myself for the fights that might come at me later. Last night, he told me to get plenty of rest, because today… well… he told me to skip breakfast. Said I would only end up losing it by the end of the week. He told me to pack some bags with some food and clothes because we were going on a week-long training camp with a few friends of his. Apparently, he's not the only sponsor for new mages. I will be joining a small campsite full of them. Huh… others like me. This might be fun._

 _So, anyway, I have to meet up with Ksaan. He's going to walk me to the campsite; filled with training firedrakes. I might actually enjoy this. I can't wait to meet some of his friends._

 _Ahmbra Dragonis._

 _…_

Rimmen was a bigger place than I thought. I mean, there was the whole town, which was huge, but who would have guessed that Rimmen was also its own state. When it seceded from the rest of Elsweyr, Rimmen had a new set of borders that extended to the east, and a bit to the west. As far as I knew, to the west was the badlands: dangerous canyon valleys, stretching as high as miles with treacherous cliffs, sand traps, and long winding, twisting carved pathways that were sometimes too narrow to even walk across, let alone travel by senche or horse. We managed to avoid those routes by coming in by the northern route, which was mostly grassland that turned into something like a tropical forest. It wasn't really all that dense, but even then… you could see the mountains in the distance. As we got to higher and higher altitudes, you really began to see what kind of place Elsweyr was. And then when we started coming down what looked like a sharp hilltop, we entered Rimmen. It really wasn't a hard ride to get here from Cyrodiil. Coming from anywhere else in Elsweyr, it would almost be impossible. I can see why Rimmen felt safe seceding from the rest of Elsweyr.

So, to the west were those badlands: massive deep canyons. To the east was a slight jungle that turned into a massive beach the closer we got to town. The town managed to direct some of the sea our way when they made their canal systems, and with it a great beach to relax on. It also helped the moon sugar plantations out in this area. The great forest to our north east, right before it was a small marshland that we use for our plantations. It's also in this area that Ksaan and his friends decided to make their camp for the week.

I can tell you, I'm not too pleased that my new boots are already soaking wet. As I pulled my soggy boot out of the thick mud gathering underneath me… I couldn't help but sigh. "Really? We have anywhere else in Rimmen to go… and you guys choose the marshland?"

Ksaan only rolled his eyes at my comment, but did look back at one of his friends. "Hey, Zharrim. What are the chances we'll accidentally catch our camp on fire?"

Zharrim, a jaguar Cathay-raht with spots so thick and dark that he almost looked like a deep colored cheetah, turned to look at Ksaan with a smirk on his whiskers. "What? We're surrounded by thick moist grass and water. There is no way we'll burn down our camp like they did four years ago."

Ksaan looked over at me, shrugging. "Oh well… I guess we'll just _not_ worry about surrounding ourselves with Khajiits with potential fire hazard based spells."

"Ok, I get it. I didn't think about that." But… I'm supposedly a lightning user. All this water probably would not mix well with whatever lightning I can produce.

Ksaan ruffled my mane before chuckling. "I know it's annoying, but last year we tried to do this in the badlands. We thought it would be fun… it wasn't. We had a few new arrivals that needed some practice: Prishi, and some girl named Rin. Rin could make earthquakes, so we thought… we should take her somewhere with rocks. We used to have a bridge leading to town too… you can guess what happened. Rin… well…" He shrugged. "Prishi has this magicka that lets him grow wings. It's a very weird magicka. Anyway, we thought the open passageways of the mountain would let him practice his maneuverability… we just never thought he would need to use them to save Rin's life when the entire ground underneath us began to give. Rin… she didn't make it. As far as we know, anyway. Prishi tried to save her in the rockslide, but he was still only a level one. So was Rin."

"That doesn't explain the fire prevention." I growled out to him. Why was he even telling me about Rin anyway? I get that he's trying to tell me how dangerous it was to put people in the wrong kind of training environment but… that still doesn't answer why they decided to put a training electromancer in a giant watery field. That just sounds like a _great_ idea. Especially since I can't control any of my magicka yet.

Ksaan nodded. "True. That was my fault. I burned our camp to the ground one night making s'mores. Anyway, that's why we choose this environment. It's secluded from the rest of the town; it's plenty open…"

"It's disgusting." I heard a new voice from behind us.

When I turned around to see who it was, I could see someone Ksaan's age. She was pretty tall, looked like she was from one of the northern clouded leopard tribes. She was busy lifting her tail out of the marshy soil, flicking mud off as she glared at the ground.

"I swear, Ksaan… if this is your idea of a joke…" She looked up at Ksaan, shaking her head.

"Calm down, Ipyan." I heard Loshin say as he walked over towards her, giving her a bright smile. So… this was the dangerous queen cat of Rimmen Firedrake Academy? This was the girl that would try to tame me? Right next to the guy that would try to dominate me? And I'm just happening to be spending the next week sleeping in the same soggy grass as them?

I cast a glance over at Ksaan, nodding my head to Ipyan. "So, the two most dangerous schoolmates I could meet and would want to hurt me for social reasons… and you brought them to my training camp?"

Ksaan snickered at my comment. "You're not the only one training here, Ahmbra." He pointed at a few other Khajiits, some of which looked as young as me. "There are a lot of Khajiits all training with you. A few that are only second graders are camping here. See?"

He pointed to what looked like a tiny cub. The cub was still crawling on all fours, mewing in Ta'agra. "Is that?"

Ksaan nodded. "A senche cub. Damnedest thing… senche aren't known for having magicka. And yet… watch closely."

I watched. As the tiny cub started walking, I saw it sniff a nearby cattail. The senche cub sneezed… and when it did, everything around it exploded into dust, leaving nothing but a smoldering crater.

Ksaan nodded. "Explosion magicka. Deadly, and the cub is still young. His parents left him here to train with us. Now… senche can't speak Common like we can, so if you choose to talk to Ish'ika, I suggest you talk in Ta'agra. Now, sneezing sets off his Explosion magicka, but so does making him upset… or nervous. I suggest you approach him cautiously, unless you want to evaporate into dust."

How was anything like him even allowed to be in the same camp as us? Why wasn't the cub locked up or something? If he was this dangerous… he shouldn't just be allowed to wander around and sniff cattails. I couldn't just let this go without some kind of explanation.

"So wait…" I started to say, but Ksaan was already cutting me off.

He grabbed me by my hand, nodding at me. "Oh… it looks like we're about to begin." He nudged his head towards the oldest looking Khajiit in the field. He looked like he was one of the teachers at the academy. He was dressed just like Ro'Prin was when I first met her. He looked pretty old too, just like Dra'Vio. He held himself with a certain poise that I could only place on one other person I've met: Umbra… the person I based my entire name around. Umbra saved me time and time again, and showed me what it meant to be strong. He was a warrior unlike any that ever visited the camp. This old Khajiit radiated the same kind of feeling. The same look in his eyes.

"My name is Dro'Ran. I am the third year instructor of Rimmen Firedrake Academy. Before that, I was a mage in the Reformed Battlemages Corps of the Empire. We fought hard against the Dominion when they started their war with the Empire. Obviously, we failed to complete our objective, and few of us survived. Those who did were either exiled, executed, or recruited. I was exiled, by choice. I moved to Rimmen to start a new life, one far from the politics of the world. I find solace in teaching you children; I find inner peace. But, take to mind: I am still a soldier, and I will train you the way I was trained. Seeing how RFA doesn't believe in a structured classroom environment, I take my training and have adapted it in the gym/combative classes you will be attending at RFA."

The old Khajiit nodded to us. "First of all, I would like to thank you all for joining us for this training camp. We're already day three into the training camp, but as it turns out, we have a few new members joining us at the last minute, as well as their sponsors. Thus is the reason why I am repeating what I've told the rest of you two days ago."

"Sponsor?" I looked over at Ksaan. "Is that what you are?"

He nodded. "Yup. You thought Ro'Prin asked only me to tutor students? No… every third year has to do it. Sometimes, fourth years do it twice, unless they want to do the other project instead." He glanced down at me. "And if you fail… I fail. Remember that."

Oh man… that was some pressure to throw on my shoulders.

The old Khajiit looked around the marshy fields for the newcomers. He glanced at me and then at Ksaan. "Ma'Ksaan, who is this girl?"

Ksaan answered without missing a beat. "Her name is Ahmbra; she's a level one electromancer preparing for the entrance exam."

The old Khajiit nodded. "Very well." He glanced over at Ipyan. "And your student?"

Standing right behind Ipyan was a young Khajiit like me. He was a plain orange Suthay-raht with dreadlocks that fell down around his shoulders. He looked as confused as I did as he glanced around. When he saw me, he nodded a small hello before turning his attention back to Ipyan.

Ipyan nodded to the old Khajiit. "Sir, this is Kharan. He's a transfer student from Torval. I can't really say what he is…"

Kharan spoke for her. "Dra'Vio called me a sponge." He shrugged. "She made it sound like I absorb magicka or something."

The old Khajiit nodded. "Dra'Vio is very powerful when it comes to detecting other's personal magicka, as well as their destiny. She told you what you needed to know in order to find out what you're capable of." He nodded a welcome to me and then to Kharan. "Welcome to Rimmen Firedrake Academy's Personalized Training Camp. We do several of them all summer long, all taught by me. If you cannot meet our standards by the end of this camp, you will meet at the next one… and then the one after that until you can finally meet the standards necessary to pass your entrance exam. And you're both in luck today. I have been thinking of the best way to hasten the learning potential of our expecting students."

The old Khajiit nodded to the students. "Tell me, children. Let's say you have a lot of training to do… and not a lot of time to train. What is a very common training tool used to capture loads of time in such a short training space?"

Everyone stood there, looking around at the other children, all hoping to hear someone offer a suggestion. I glanced up at Ksaan, hoping to see if he had any suggestions. He didn't look like he was even close to figuring out the cryptic Khajiit's message.

The old Khajiit smirked as he waved around the field. "Come on. All of you young Khajiits, and not one of you has ever watched an action drama before? No sports movies? Not one of you watched one on a crystal ball? Not even one of those old anime?"

Still no one moved. One of the older teenagers, one that wore glasses and had long matted fur, raised his hand. "Sir… are you talking about a montage?"

The old Khajiit nodded. "Yes, yes I am." He waved his hand to Ipyan and then over to Zharrim. "With the help of Ipyan and Zharrim, I think I've devised a new way to undergo massive amounts of training while only taking an afternoon. It's still experimental, so you'll excuse me if it doesn't work." He nodded to the two Khajiits. "Please, step forward and explain how it works."

Zharrim coughed into his hands as he walked over to stand next to the old Khajiit. There was a long pause as he looked at us, as if debating how he wanted to explain this. "Well… my personal magicka is called Sanctuary magicka. I can… create whole spaces with my own rules. I can speed up time… slow it down… make gravity stronger… make other magicka cease to exist… I can even erase ground and air. But it's only an Illusion… I can't affect the real world once I drop it. Everything returns to normal. So… I can affect your mind, but not your body. Unless you die… then it kind of stays permanent."

Ipyan sighed as she walked over to join Zharrim. "Might as well let the cat out of the bag. My magicka is… well…" She finally shrugged. "Oh, who cares. I'm graduating anyway. Might as well tell you all. I'm an Influencer. I can make you think whatever I want you to think. I… I made myself popular using my magicka. I made the other girls follow me around, worship me, made all the guys want me… it was fun, but now that everyone knows the truth… it kind of won't work like that anymore. But, I can use it to make you think like you've been through a rigorous training session all while performing a musical number based off of popular training montages collected over the years."

Popular training montages collected over the years? Musical numbers? What? I wish we had astral viewing at the old camp… and that I was allowed to watch it. I had no idea what was even going on.

Ksaan had a pretty good idea. "Which movies are we parodying today?"

The old Khajiit pointed over to Ksaan. "Good question. We of course will probably only do one parody, depending on how long it will actually take us. First of all, we should introduce ourselves." He gestured to the other students and one by one, they started introducing themselves. There were so many of them, I didn't really feel like paying much attention to them all. But… if they speak or something, I could at least recall their names if I had to. What an odd thought but… you know. "Of course, throughout the montage, there will be times you feel like adding to the song by singing a line or two. Just know that these lines will oddly seem very specific to your own problems as a mage… and as a person. Just remember… a lot of thought went into this magicka number."

He nodded to the two Khajiits. "Do it."

As Zharrim stretched his arms out… I felt a pulse of air blast through me, and a flash of light engulf me. We were no longer standing on the marshy wetlands. We were standing in a grassy field. Everyone else attending the training was standing next to me, all dressed similarly. They looked just as confused as I did. I ended up standing right next to a brute of a Khajiit, one that looked pretty nasty. He glanced at me, scanning me up and down before smirking at me. "You smell slave-bred. Are you?" He glared at me.

Wow…

I turned my attention away from him, focusing instead of the instructor _._ My interest was more drawn towards the thumping music coming out of nowhere. Where was it coming from? _"Let's get down to business…"_ He sang to us with a voice musically altered to match that of an angel's as he reached for a whole stack of staves. _"so you can pass… your test."_ He threw the staves at us, and we all took turns grabbing the staves as the all few down around us. Just as I reached for my training staff, the brute of a kid named Tesh standing next to me snatched my staff mid-air, holding it away from me. He then proceeded to trip me using my training staff. Unluckily for him… I'm not unfamiliar with people trying to trip me on the ground… it happened all the time at the old camp… so… I was able to fix myself before hitting the ground.

As soon as I regained my balance, I reached for the staff, growling at the boy as I pried it out of his hands. "You ever do any of that crap to me… and… well… I'll maybe finish this vague defensive threat!" What was going on? I would normally never say anything quite like that. My head was feeling fuzzy, like I couldn't really control what I was thinking, or saying. Was this part of Ipyan's Influence magicka? She could really make me think and feel whatever she wanted? Was I thinking this because she wanted me to think it? What was going on?

I turned my attention back to the instructor, who was patiently waiting for me to take my spot. "Oh… you're the protagonist in this number." He nodded to me, as if answering his own question. "Well, you own it." The music restarted as the instructor turned to aim the staff at a few pots. He blew them up with ease. He gestured for us to try our luck. I aimed my staff at a nearby pot, but when I tried to activate it, I accidentally exploded the entire area around me.

 _"Did they send me kittens, when I asked for the best?"_ He sang as he glanced down at us, shaking his head disappointingly. He started to walk over to us, tapping his staff on the ground, each time erupting the ground around him into an explosion of fire and ground magicka, making small fireworks behind him. _"You're the saddest bunch I ever met, and you bet before we're through. Somehow I'll make a mage… out of you…"_ He bent down, grabbing my robe's collar, staring heavily into my face. Jeez… what is going on? Why wasn't he doing this to anyone else?

I don't really know what happened but I was suddenly standing in a river with everyone else. The river was raging pretty quickly, and I was doing everything I could just to continue standing in my spot. What was going on? How did I get here? How did any of us get here? Why did I feel slightly stronger than before? Why do I recall going on five mile jogs before coming to this river to… what… meditate? Why were we meditating? _"Tranquil as a forest, but your fire's within… once you find your center, you are sure to win."_ Our instructor sang just outside the river, tapping his staff on the ground, producing the same explosion effect as before. _"So far, you have a hidden magicka you haven't unlocked, and you haven't got a clue. Somehow, I'll make a mage… out of you!"_ He pointed down at me. Why? Why just me?

Next thing I knew, we were jogged down the road, some of my fellow mages running right beside me. We were all pretty breathless. The music was still pounding away all around me… and I had no idea where this was going. Our instructor was well ahead of us, running like it was nothing for him. Probably wasn't. But, then I heard one of girls next to me say, _"I'm never going to fix my dad."_ Why? Why would she sing that?

 _"Say goodbye to those who knew me…"_ Some younger girl named Truvii said.

 _"Man, was a fool in school for missing gym…"_ Kharan said with a labored gasp.

Looking behind me, I could see Enji being stared at immensely by some strange boy named Idzo. She looked completely terrified of him though, like she knew what he was thinking or something. Right behind them, a girl named Bast was shaking her head. _"This guy's got her scared to death…"_

And right to the right of me, I could see Ashi shaking his head as he tried to keep up beside me. _"Hope they never see right through me."_

 _"Now I really wish that I knew how to swim!"_ Rvi cried.

What was going on? Why was everyone singing to the same tune, while sharing possible character building arcs that might occur during my stay here at Rimmen Firedrake Academy? This was just insane? Was this something Ruby and Lydia had to deal with on a daily basis?

We were suddenly back in the same river as last time. I was curled up in a meditative stance, trying my hardest to keep centered while the rapid waters were smashing against me. I looked up at the professor. "Um… why are we doing this?"

 _"WE MUST PASS."_ Everyone sang as one.

The teacher looked down at me with understanding. He finally sang out, _"You must meditate in the coursing river, that has the strength of a great typhoon… to unlock your hidden fire, that's as mysterious as our birth rites from the moon!"_

Kharan looked up at the instructor. "Yeah… why does everyone believe that stupid rumor anyway?"

The instructor shrugged. "People are really stupid."

There was a sudden shift and we were suddenly standing in an open field, storm clouds raining down all around us, lightning crashing down as we continued to train with our staves. These staves were programmed to only respond once our personal magicka was finally unlocked. Several other students had made some progress, but few others hadn't done anything of the sort. The instructor was pacing around, taking notes of our progress. _"Time is racing forward until the mon… tage ends. Unlock your hidden fire, and your new life… begins."_

Just as he said that, there was a crash of lightning that landed all around me. I instinctively held out my hands and just like that, the lightning curved away from me, crashing harmlessly into the ground.

The instructor turned to face me, smiling from ear to ear. _"You don't this montage anymore, so pack up, go home, you're through. How could I… continue… to sing for you?"_

 _"WE MUST PASS!"_ Everyone else sang out.

I was suddenly watching from a distance as everyone was back in the river, still continuing to listen to our instructor sing. _"You must meditate in the coursing river."_

 _"WE MUST PASS."_

 _"With the strength of a great typhoon…"_

 _"WE MUST PASS…"_

 _"To unlock your hidden fire… mysterious as our birth rites from the moon!"_

 _…_

Just like that, the whole vision ended. I was still standing in the same spot I was a few minutes ago. I felt a little differently though. I could see tiny bits of lightning crackling on my clawtips. What? That was all some vision? That was pretty amazing, I had to say. And it worked.

Dro'Ran nodded to us. "One of my favorites. I was planning on doing Eye of the Sengar, but…" He shrugged. "It's just not the same."

Kharan stood right next to me, rubbing his eyes. "Gods… that was something. But… it's over. I can go back to my dorm and sleep for the rest of the week."

Dro'Ran looked over at the kid. "What do you mean?"

He shrugged. "I unlocked my hidden fire. Wasn't that what this was for?"

Dro'Ran shook his head. "Oh, gods no. That was a morning stretch. We've only just begun."

"But…" He looked around. "I just lived through three months of pushups and running, not to mention meditating in a freezing river." Man… he has better recollection than I do. "Are you saying that… we just did all of that…"

"For fun, yes." Dro'Ran said bluntly. He clapped his hands. "Ok, everyone. Form up. Six miles around the marshlands. Let's go."

Kharan sighed as he looked at me. "And you sang about your old slave life. Why?"

I shrugged. "My vision had you singing about missing gym."

He nodded. "I do regret it. Running six miles in the marshes. Gods… I am going to hate this."

"Children!" Dro'Ran screamed to us. "Let's get moving! Your hidden fires aren't going to ignite themselves by just standing there."

Great… and now I have to go sloshing around the marshland. And it seems that everyone heard me singing about my slave life. Just great.

* * *

 **Cearbhail:**

 _So... that was something. You can thank RWBY Abridged for the idea. I enjoyed it too much._


	5. New Friend

**Cearbhail:**

 _So, I was going to write this epic fight for this chapter, but... all this happened before I could get to it. Next chapter.  
_

 _=^^= Enjoy..._

* * *

 _Dear diary,_

 _I've been here at this training camp for almost a few days now. It's the 3rd of Second Seed, Sundas. They started this training camp on Tirdas, the seniors setting up the camp on Morndas. I arrived on the third day of the camp. And I had to say, it was pretty fun. I got to make some new friends, all of which are… something. Some of which might very well become classmates of mine during class. And to make it all worth it, I was able to get my magicka actually usable. I mean, the first day we spent doing all sorts of things like running, pushups, and doing this Illusion projected obstacle course, set up in teams of three to get through the whole thing, using our independent magicka to get us through. Each obstacle course was designed to test our specific magicka abilities. I was stuck with a girl named Bast, and a boy named Kharan._

 _Bast is pretty cool. She doesn't really care for me much, but she doesn't really care for anyone at all. She won't tell us her past, or what her real magicka is, but from what I can tell, and from what the obstacle course showed us, she's really… really… fast on her feet. Not flashing fast, just… if we had thirty people all attacking her, shooting arrows and whatnot, slashing her with swords, she could probably move around each attack, grab each arrow, and then some. I don't know why she's even here, or why she's attending the academy. She could be her own hero by now. And she's only 13!_

 _Kharan is pretty cool. He's 13 too, which is making me seem smaller and younger by the second. I'm still only 11, and both of these teenagers were here to join the same freshman class I was. Both of them seem more confident in themselves than I do, but I guess after three days of everything, I'm doing pretty well actually. I'm pretty fit despite my past, and the morning visualization montages have done wonders for helping me unlock some amount of my own magicka. I can make it spark on my fingertips now, and I can pretty much shock people by tapping them with my claw, producing the same effect as static electricity when you roll around on a shag carpet and touch something. It's not great… but it's a start._

 _Today's the last day of the training camp. We're supposed to meet up with our teachers for one last lesson… more like test. I have to face an instructor and show them what I've learned in some kind of situational thing. Healers do healing, Illusionists create or break Illusions. People like me… combative magicka users… have to do combat. I have to use my magicka to protect myself from something. I just hope I can figure out how I'm going to do that when all I can do at this moment is shoot a tiny spark of something electrical._

 _Ahmbra Dragonis._

 _…_

I sighed as I closed my diary. Last night was a lot of fun. We all stayed up pretty late and exchanged frequency numbers. All of us that had become friends anyway. I have Bast's and Kharan's. I tried to socialize with a few other trainees but… I think I'm either too awkward or… there are some extremely anti-social teens here. There was this one boy: Rvi. I tried to talk to him, ask him why he always had his hands folded behind his back like they were bound or something. When I asked him, he just backed away, telling me to stay away from him. I didn't want to force him to talk to me so I just let him be. There were several other people just like that. Enji, Idzo, and Truvii. Each of them wanted nothing to do with me. Tesh is a jerk, and he won't stop harassing me, calling me slave cub or something just as bad. Whenever Bast hears that, she beats the crap out of him, but I don't think it's going to get any easier with him. He's going to join the freshman class with the rest of us. I think Truvii and Irira are the only ones not joining us this year. She's too young. My current age actually.

Our sleeping situation was pretty nice, for where we were. We didn't just sleep in tents like you'd expect when you're out camping. No, we're sleeping in one of Zharrim's Sanctuary things, a massive sized mansion with comfortable beds and whatnot. The only real condition we have is that we have to go to bed at a certain time and wake up at a certain time. It's not a request. He writes rules in his pocket dimensions, which is what they are. As soon as it hits 22:00 we all fall asleep, no matter where we are or what we're doing. The first night… we found that out the hard way. I fell asleep getting a small snack for my bed. I woke up with cheesy nachos stuck to my face at 05:00. It was hard to get that out of my fur, but I wasn't the only one that suffered. Someone was using the bathroom. Guess what happened to them.

So, since we found out the rules of Sanctuary magicka the hard way, we always made sure we were in our beds and lying down comfortably before ten. It was nice though. He allowed us to have normal dreams, but… he also allowed those of us that are empathic to make bridged dreams. Enji, shy as she is, managed to link all of our brains together. We did most of our socializing that way. It's why I know everyone so well by now. We don't have a lot of time to talk during the day, so we did all of the talking at night. Even a few sparring matches between some of us combative users. Extra practice; I enjoyed it. I wanted to join the academy… and I'm way behind when compared to everyone else. Heck, Enji can link all of our minds together while we're asleep. That's something. The only other trainee I can't figure out is Ashi. His magicka is… I don't want to say normal, but… fire? Regular fire? Nothing else? Why? And he doesn't ever want to spar, he just sits there and makes small flames in his hands from time to time.

"Good morning everyone." M'Anurki said as she walked into the girl's temporary dorms. M'Anurki was one of the third year students helping with the training camp. She was just only 13, which meant she joined the academy when she was ten or something. She was hyper smart though. She was also half-Altmer. An Ohmes breed. She was pretty short, had golden short fur, a pretty normal tail, still looked like a slender Khajiit, had more of an elvish face covered in fur, had pointy elven ears, long flowing golden hair, and had golden elven eyes. She looked like a puma variant. I've met plenty of Ohmes during my time as a slave. Some were dark-furred, panther-ish, some were tan-furred like lynxes. Some were golden-furred and puma-ish. All depended on who the father was. M'Anurki's father had to be an Altmer to be _that_ fur color.

The other girls in our little room were already up and chatting with each other, except Bast, who was meditating in her bed. As soon as M'Anurki walked in, everyone quit what they were doing. M'Anurki was our room supervisor. She walked into the room, clapping her hands. "Ok, everyone. Time to get some breakfast… then… you all have your final tests. The rest of us, junior and seniors, will be your proctors. I won't be judging any of you since I've been watching you every night and might be biased, but rest assured, whatever we tell you is not final. Your entry test is not until the 25th of Second Seed. You will still have plenty of time during the summer to get more tutoring if you still need it. And we always recommend it for new arrivals. Especially anyone joining Mage Force. We have a few teachers that work part time at Mage Force, and a few that work in The Trade."

Bast smirked. "Which teachers are associated with Mage Force?"

M'Anurki rubbed her chin for a few seconds. "I think it's the Second Year teachers: S'Hirr and Ja'Ngill. They both work at Mage Force as our school's representation. Every school has at least one representative working at Mage Force. They determine which students need to be sent to which districts of town for whatever crimes might be committed at that time. It's pretty standard."

Bast nodded. "Thanks for telling me. I will be working with Mage Force this semester." She looked around the room. "Anyone else attending?"

The other girls all shook their heads. I remember that I wanted to join Mage Force but you had to be considered a Level 3 to even apply. If Bast was attending, she was already registered as a Level 3 whatever she was before registering for our academy, which you could only join if you were a Level 2. Which meant… she already met the qualifications to join RFA. Why was she here at the training camp?

"Um… Bast?" I asked.

She glanced over at me. "Yes, Ahmbra?"

"Just how strong are you?" I guess that was the polite way of asking her. She gave me a weird look like she didn't really understand my question so I cleared my throat. "You are signed up for Mage Force… which only takes Level 3's and above. Rimmen Firedrake Academy's application test needs only Level 2's to enter. If you're qualified as a Level 3… why are you here at this training camp?"

She scratched at her whiskers for a second before answering. "Learning about all of you. I will be seeing you all a lot… and protecting you when the times demands it. This training camp is a way for me to learn about your magickal strengths, weaknesses if the situation demands it… and anything in between." She looked over at me. "Besides, someone has to look out for our… mythical ballista, after all." She squinted her eyes suspiciously as she glared at me.

Mythical Ballista? I've been called that before, but I've never introduced myself, or that information, to anyone before. How did Bast know about it? I almost wanted to ask her about it, but I guess everyone else was just as curious.

"Mythical Ballista?" Irira asked. She was as old as me, preparing for the test next year. She could make all sorts of Shields, but they were too weak as they were currently. She was only a Level 1, like myself.

I looked back at Bast. She was nodding to Irira. "Yes, it's something my father told me about. She's supposed to be our town's savior or something like that. Some strong mage that will save our town from the Dominion. At least, that's what he said. He told me to attend this academy and protect her. I'm to be her… ugh… best friend." Bast rolled her eyes. "Only… he wouldn't tell me who 'she' is, what 'she' looks like, or what her magicka ability was. He just laughed, rubbed my head, and told me to come to this stupid camp and take the entry exam this year."

I felt my cheeks burning as I tried to sit as still as possible. I could not tell her that I was the person she was looking for. I did not need that attention from anyone, including her. She sounded like she was being forced to be a slave or bodyguard to me, and I did not want that at all.

Bast looked back over to me, seeing my flushed face. "You ok, Ahmbra? You look like you just saw a weird ghost or something."

I was about to make up a lie, but luckily, M'Anurki was already ahead of me. She clapped her hands, drawing all of our attentions. "Ok, everyone. That's enough gossip. I can assure you all that you're all special in your own ways, and that everyone will somehow attempt to either destroy… or save this town. It's weird like that. But still… we have breakfast and then… your camp finals."

We all started climbing out our beds, changing out of our pajamas into our training clothes. Since we weren't given any and had to pack our own, I just settled for wearing whatever I had packed away. After hearing I was going to this training camp, Mom took me shopping, showing me all the enchanted training clothes most Khajiit teens wear. Ksaan and Hiarria tagged along, both of them practically dressing me and trying to make me look both sharp and collectively fashionable. Whatever I chose was thrown in my face and said that it belonged in the trash. Not my fault I like tie dye. I like the wavy patterns and bright colors. As it was, I was forced to buy a lot of Under Armor branded stuff. Still bright… and very light, but… I just don't care for it too much. At the time, I didn't anyway. Wearing this stuff while out here trudging in mud and water though… I can see the benefits of wearing near water-proofed clothing that wore lightly on the fur. I hear it's modeled after what the Argonians wear for everything. Since they live in marshes, it only makes sense that they would design something just like this.

I threw on a random top and some pants, quick to join the other girls out in the kitchen and dining area. The boys were probably taking their sweet time waking themselves up. I can only guess that some of them attempted to fall asleep after being forcibly awake. Even napping here is impossible. You can try as hard as you could to fall asleep, but it won't happen until ten at night. That's some powerful magicka right there.

As I exited the bedroom and joined the other girls in the dining area, I could see that all the boys were already up and getting plates of eggs and pancakes ready. Ksaan was among the other boys, seeing how he was one of the boys' room supervisor. "Eat up, but don't eat too much. I don't know what you'll be facing, but… I'm guessing you don't want to be too full. We'll have a grand party later on to make up for it."

Every guy cheered at Ksaan for suggesting it as they sloppily started eating their bacon and pancakes. I ended up choosing a small bagel with blueberry sauce slathered on it. I didn't want to get too full and then fail my test. I know this test didn't affect the outcome of me joining RFA, but I didn't want to end my time here with a failure.

Ksaan sat down next to me. He nudged me on the shoulder, making me look up at him. "Morning, Ksaan."

"You look worried." He said as he turned to his waffles. "Bad sleep or something?"

I shook my head. "I'm not strong. And… there's the whole… ballista thing."

He nodded. "Sounds daunting, doesn't it?" He poked the waffles with his fork, looking away. "I can understand if you didn't want to see this through. Dra'Vio and Ro'Prin really shoved that in your face, and we didn't really have a chance to really let you make up your mind. They put you on the spot, probably did it on purpose too." He shook his head. "Can I tell you something?" He looked back down at me.

I looked up at him. I wonder what he wanted to say. So, I nodded. "If you think it will help."

He nodded. "You know about my sister, Nisha. I know you do. Did she ever tell you that she was a hero?"

I nodded. "When we were at the slave camp… after Ranjier brought her back…" I had to fight the memory of me being used as someone's ambrosia just moments before being thrown in the shame pit, where all used slaves were tossed after being taken. Ruby had just arrived herself moments before. I was barely aware of anything at the time. I was still exiting my forced meditative trance. Ruby was helping me up. "She comforted me… the day she came back. We were both used… tossed into the shame pit."

Ksaan nudged my shoulder again, which drew me out of the memory. "I can't let you think about that. Anyway, my sister used to travel with the now High King of Skyrim. She was probably… um… well… three years older than you are now when she began her journey. But! She didn't have any magicka of her own, except for a small talent of hers: crystal magick. And that's it! It was hard for her too, but in time, she found her way to becoming who she needed to be."

"She doesn't have some prophesized destiny surrounding her…" I pointed out.

Ksaan shrugged. "Ok, so… you do. You know who else did?"

"No. I'm a slave, remember? They didn't really teach us about heroes when all they wanted were compliant slaves."

"You're a slave?" Irira asked as she sat down in front of me. "Whoa… can I tell anyone?"

I held up my little plastic knife, pointing it at her. "No! No one."

I glanced over at Ksaan, shaking my head lightly. I didn't want anyone else to hear that I was the ballista. And if I can't even talk to him about me being a slave without everyone around me hearing… imagine what would happen if even the slightest hint of me being the ballista leaked out. The less people that knew, the better.

Ksaan seemed to take my hint and stopped chatting to me, focusing his attention back on his waffles. I attempted to enjoy my bagel, but Irira kept asking me vague questions about my life previous to this one. As more and more people started sitting next to us, each question became even more vague, but I think Tesh figured it out because he screamed, "We get it, she's a slave!" He screamed at Irira. "Gods, I think everyone knows that."

Bast glanced over at me. "You are?"

"Was! Was a slave. I'm free now." I corrected Tesh.

And then everyone started asking me questions. I got so annoyed that every metallic thing on the table suddenly lifted off the table and slammed right back down again, hard enough to make a loud clanging sound as they did so. "Enough!" I yelled. "I'm not talking about it, ever! Drop it!"

"Typical slave." Tesh muttered.

"And I'm done." I picked my plate up and walked it over to the sink.

Ksaan followed behind me. As I washed my plate off, he bent down to whisper in my ear. "Don't let him get to you. It's what he wants."

"Well, what he's going to get is a boot in his face." I whispered back. I'm sick of Tesh. He's been pushing that button all week long, but so far he only ever mentioned it whenever we happened to be alone at the same time. And now… everyone knew. My social life might as well just end right now. Normal Khajiits don't treat slaves, or ex-slaves, the same. We're outcast for a reason. I swear to the Khajiit gods… if anyone calls me _shansha_ … I will probably just leave.

Ksaan patted me on the back. "If you want, we can both just leave. Go home, let you relax until you're ready to continue training. We only have a month to get you ready, after all." He glanced back at my social peers. "And now…I don't think you'll be able to concentrate for your combat test… unless…" He smiled. He patted me on the back again, more upbeat. "Gotta go. See you outside."

Before I could say anything, Ksaan was running out the kitchen. My ears folded back as I heard someone else approaching me. I didn't want to hear anything from anyone. I shoved my plate into the sink and ran off for the door as well. I didn't turn around to see who it was… I didn't care. I'm done.

Once I was outside, I found myself a small mostly dry spot to sit myself down. I had to get myself under control before I took my test. We were taking them pretty much at the same time. The test would probably take only a few minutes, and hopefully I could just go in, get it done, get packed up, and go home. Ralof called just last night, telling me that the house was finally cleaned up and ready for us to live in. I finally had my own room to sleep in. No more sleeping in Ksaan's bedroom for me. I'm glad I'll finally have something of my own comfort zone. A place I can feel relaxed in. One that's not a cage anyway.

I curled my legs into a crescent leg fold, wrapping my tail over my waist as I cupped my hands. I did what Umbra taught me to do. I meditated; focusing on the moving air in my fur… smelling the light lavender that surrounded the marshy land… the cattails dancing in the wind. It was calming. It was relaxing…

"I wish to talk to you." Bast called from over my shoulder.

And… that's over.

I glanced over my shoulder, seeing her standing there, waiting for me to give her permission to talk to me. I finally sighed as I nodded to her to join me. "Sure, why not…"

Bast walked over, taking a seat next to me, folding her legs into a full moon leg fold. She mirrored my cupped hands, taking in a deep breath. "I wish to let you know that Tesh has been dealt with. Irira and I poured hot sauce on his tongue and then she formed a Shield over his mouth so that he could not drink anything. It was… satisfying to watch."

"Thanks for that." I replied. I tried to get my calm back, but the image of watching Tesh crying over his burning tongue was just distracting enough that I couldn't obtain it. My tail began to flick. I wanted it to stop more than anything.

"I wish to let you know… everyone in the room spoke favorably for you. No one wished to put you down in the fashion Tesh might have been." She glanced at me. "I've heard his whispered comments aimed at you about your past when the two of you were… alone. I thought it a jest, but to know it was true… it's unfortunate, and unforgivable to mock." She shook her head. "And to think I thought him morally sound. I see him for the monster he is now. He better hopes he never faces me in combat. I will spare no quarter with him."

Why did it have to be Bast that joined me here? Was it because I'm secretly the ballista and this was her own destiny somehow coming to fruition? Why couldn't it be Kharan or something? Come to think of it, I didn't see Kharan in the dining hall. He probably didn't even know my secret was finally out. He was the only one that knew besides Tesh.

"Thanks for telling me." I said to her. I couldn't really say anything else. I looked over at her. I wanted to know why she was out here telling me all this. We weren't close enough to have this chat. There had to be other reasons. "Were you one too?"

She looked away. "We are all slaves in one form or another… everyone here is a slave to their past to begin with… yours is probably the third worst I've heard in the past few days of being here. To know your past allows me to know you better. I've learned nearly everyone's past by now." She shook her head. "I think it sad that you have something no one else has that somehow makes your social status mockable… when it's all of their pasts that makes them worse off than you."

What did she mean by that? "You mean… I don't have it as bad as everyone else?"

She nodded. "I wish not to speak ill of anyone else, so forgive me if I do not share others' pasts with you… it's just that your past also affects your standing with your peers that I feel puts more gravity on you. When so many of us suffer because of our magicka… our pasts with it, our futures if not corrected… it's saddening that you are the only one put in a corner because of unconditional birth circumstances and ownership to slavers."

"Ahmbra! I just heard what happened." Kharan shouted as he raced up to us. And I face-palmed at hearing him trudging his way over to me.

"Kharan… I don't want to talk about it!" I said as he finally got close to me.

He pointed back. "You might want to. Your test… you have to fight Tesh."

Fight… Tesh…?

I face-palmed as I thought what Ksaan meant when he said he would take care of it. Giving me a training space where I could personally beat the crap out of Tesh… not what I wanted. I swear… only a boy would think that fighting was a viable solution to my problems with Tesh.

"Fucking gods…" I swore.

Just hearing that made Bast fold her ears back. She hissed at the mentioning of gods. "Ahmbra…" She warned. "Do not mock the gods in my presence."

I quickly apologized to her for even saying it. I never saw Bast get so worked up about anything before. She normally had a cool exterior, quietly commenting on the current subject and then going back to her books. She was a quiet one, not easily angered. And that pissed her off. Khajiits only hiss when they're ready to rake your face off.

Kharan bent down as he looked at me. "Do you want me to do something? Protest the test? I mean… Tesh is pretty strong. His Copy magicka is very problematic. He's probably copied all of ours by now."

"Except mine." Bast replied. "He can't." She closed her eyes, smiling. "Tell Ksaan, or the proctors… I want a team battle with Ahmbra by my side. I want to fight Ashi… and I'm sure that the four of us could have a really fun match…"

Kharan nodded as he turned to run back to the training grounds. I glanced over at Bast. "You don't have to do this, Bast."

She growled. "I want to." She looked over at me. "Don't worry. I'll take Tesh… you just worry about Ashi. He's a… weird one."

Ashi, he was the one that used fire magicka that was almost as weak as my lightning. I guess I could face him in a fight. That sounded a lot better to me than fighting Tesh. Tesh would probably mop the floor with me, and then for good measure do whatever he could to remind me that I was a slave. Probably make me lick his feet or something just as embarrassing. Or worse.

"Thanks, Bast." I finally breathed out.

She nodded as she stood up. "I have to get myself stretched out. If I'm going to rake someone's face off, I'd better get my claws ready. You should probably find your center before we head off to battle. Shock magicka responds better to a focused mind over anything else. Your no fire mage, so no emotions. And you're no frost mage either… so no locking yourself away. Shock magicka is all about pure willpower and intention."

I glanced up at her. "You sure know your elemental magicka."

She shrugged. "It's all in the Elemental Mindset Expert Level Edition." She turned to leave. "Remember… willpower and intention. Meditation is the key to Shock."

Meditation… that's one thing I actually do know a lot about. Had to learn to keep myself occupied while… well…

I sat there for a few minutes, breathing in and out as I tried to get in touch with my inner self. The me that used lightning. I've used it so few that I need to find her before I can actually use it, unless it's in desperate times.

"So, I hear Bast will be joining you." Ksaan said as he walked over. "Are you ok with that? I thought you'd enjoy beating Tesh to the ground."

"I would not… and I'm not strong enough anyway." I said to Ksaan as he sat down next to me.

He nodded. "You _are_ strong enough. I know why you can't use your magicka… and… I don't want to throw you off your game before you enter the ring, but… using your magicka is about being who you are… accepting who you are as a person. If you fight it… your magicka fights you. And Shock… it's about being in touch with yourself, in spiritual way. In a physical way… and in a mental way. And… in the dining room, you could not have been more out of sync. Your past… it's who you were, and you can't move past it…"

"Because no one will let me!" I screamed as I turned to face him. "How many times have I tried since I got here? Tried to socialize… and I get overwhelmed by people. Try to join RFA… and Mom spits it out like it's my weakness. Try to do things, only Mom won't let me because I need to learn how to be a kid! I try to train here in this campground… and the first thing I hear from someone my own age is that I smell 'slave-born', or something like that. And that same kid has been tormenting me with it ever since! And now… everyone knows! Everyone will talk, everyone will say things behind my back. That word, shansha… I know I'm going to hear it. A lot."

Ksaan nodded. "Yeah, it flew around the dining room, I heard from Anurki. Mostly from Tesh. Be ready for that, by the way." He shook his head. "But… Ahmbra, right now… this is what I'm talking about. All that meditation… was just wasted by this. You need to accept it. This is going to happen to you. You are going to hear things… people will be judging you. A lot. And it will mostly be because their lives suck. They hate themselves, can't face it, and will take their own frustrations out on you."

Great, just what I wanted to hear. Thanks, Ksaan.

"But… you also know you have friends. Bast, Kharan… me. My friends are yours as well." He touched my shoulder. "We're all behind you. We're here for you. But, you need to be there for yourself too. If you're not… you can't ever use your magicka." He stood up. "It's time, Ahmbra. I set this match up so that you can face what's really holding you back. You. Tesh is only as strong as you let him be. You can be stronger. And you will have to be. Bast requested a team battle with Ashi…" He smiled. "I don't think she's ready to face him."

"No… but I am." I said. "I can take Ashi, no problem." I said as I stood up.

Ksaan smirked. "Well, you might have to fight them both. Ashi… there is no way he'll let Bast get away from him. And you… you will probably be stuck fighting them both. I just hope you accept that possibility before I approve this team match."

I nodded. I didn't want to face Tesh alone, and… if the match up was already announced, and I backed out… Tesh would only get worse. Unfortunately… I had to do this. "I'll accept that risk. Let's go."

* * *

 **Cearbhail:**

 _Man... it's almost like I've been setting this up since last chapter. Or before I even started writing this book. Almost like I have three whole years of characters, planned involvements and whatnot already noted and then sat on for a while before saying, 'screw it.'  
_


	6. Practice Test

**Cearbhail:**

 _same day... really wanted to get this done. Might have mistakes, but I'll correct them tomorrow morning. I'm barely able to keep my eyes open right now. I got perhaps 2 hours sleep today and need to power nap.  
_

 _=^^= Enjoy..._

* * *

I took a deep breath as I slowly made my way to the combat arena. I had to obtain whatever peace of mind as I could manage before I stepped into that ring. Ksaan walked right beside me, matching almost every step with my own. On my other side was Bast and Kharan, both of them keeping pace with me as well. Bast looked more than ready to step into the ring. She had her favorite ebony chest plate on with her favorite dark purple robes. With her panther raven fur, it looked pretty beautiful. I'm actually glad she's by my side as we walk into this test. But… was this all for me, her, fate? I couldn't know what was going on in her head.

Bast told me that her entire reason for being here is to protect the Mythical Ballista, which is me by the way. She doesn't know it's me. She doesn't even really know anything about the ballista, only that she has to become her best friend. And here she was… joining me in a sparring match against Tesh and Ashi… out of the kindness of her heart. I don't know why the universe was forcing her to go through with this. Was it because I _was_ the ballista? Was Bast doing this because she wanted to… or being mentally forced to? My second friend that wasn't conditional like with Ksaan and living with him might be just as forced and fake. I hated not knowing, but I refused to bring it up to Bast. As long as she didn't know I was the ballista… there might be a chance for us to have a normal friendship, maybe. I don't want her to be my slave… I don't want anyone to be a slave to anything, let alone some prophecy.

I glanced back to the combat ring where Tesh and Ashi waited for us. Ashi looked straight up annoyed at this whole thing. Like he wanted nothing to do with this. He kept looking over his shoulder to Zharrim, as if silently pleading with him to let him out of this. I'm quite familiar with the look.

One glance at Tesh and I received the darkest smirk ever. Great… he's really my bully, isn't he? I hated that I was forced into having one so early on. And it's for something I couldn't control… the condition of my birth. It wasn't my fault I was born a slave. It wasn't my fault I was born from slave parents. It was something I had to deal with every day of my life. I had to go through things that would forever scar me, physically, mentally, emotionally. And to have to deal with people like Tesh outside that life, when all I want is to let it go forever… it's not right.

I glanced back at Bast. "Are you sure you want to do this with me?"

She nodded. "You couldn't talk me out of this even if you wanted to."

I couldn't take not knowing why. "Why do this anyway? You don't know me."

She glanced over at me. "Do you wish to do this alone then?" She glanced over to Tesh. "I understand if this is a trial you must face alone. But here's what I know… and what I see. I know Tesh is a true fighter… one I can face without much restriction. I know you're no combat expert. You haven't trained in the same ways Tesh or I have our whole lives. Tesh is a descendant to the town's savior: Junna. He's spoiled, entitled, rich… and he thinks everyone beneath him. It's not fair he has a strong magicka to back up that mindset. A magicka that can literally copy your own. And he never forgets it. Every magicka he's witnessed with his eyes are forever his to command. That makes him very flexible in battle. Very powerful."

She glanced over at me. "And he hates you. You, someone that was born with nothing, and has no power, no magicka strong enough to speak for you. He sees you as his personal punching bag. Something he can use as he pleases without you being able to fight back. A slave of his own. That… I cannot abide. You can face him yourself, but you will fail. And I cannot stop him from hurting you while you are in that ring with him. Ksaan made a mistake pairing you together with him without someone to watch your back."

Ksaan hissed with laughter at the comment. "Come on… I know what I'm doing!"

Bast shook her head. "You failed to protect your trainee. Her magicka is born on focus, something Tesh would never allow her to have. Pure outrage would work if she were a fire mage… but she is not. Battle Meditation, something only I can teach her. It's the only way to teach combative lightning naturally."

Ksaan nodded. "I wanted to let Ahmbra handle this on her own. To make her a better person."

Bast scoffed at the thought. "All you would have done is make her a slave to a new owner." She looked over at me. "Ahmbra, I understand that you feel that this is not my responsibility, and that this entire event is not purposeful. You could cancel the bout with Tesh, but you know as well as I that it will not stop him from further harassment. Now that you two have been paired, even if you run today, he will chase you until you face him. Duels are allowed in town, and they can become very… painful to watch if one party is outweighed by the other. And Tesh is a town celebrity. He _can_ force you to duel him. If we do it right now, we can shut him down from future harassment."

"Or it could just make him worse." Kharan added in. "If you jump in the ring with her… and beat him, he might just become more aggressive with fighting Ahmbra one on one."

I glanced over at Ksaan. "Yes… this entire thing has been a bad idea from the start." I'm starting to think that Ksaan isn't really good at planning. He's supposed to be both my role model, my trainer, and my protector until I can fight with magicka. And this… this was not helping me in any way possible.

Ksaan shrugged. "Look, I know one thing, and that's Tesh thinks Ahmbra is going to bend to his insults. A good boot to the face will change that." He said with a playful wink at me.

I shook my head. I couldn't believe this was actually going to be a thing. Well, I can't hide, I can't run, and this was going to happen even if I didn't want it to. Might as well just take this one step at a time. "Ok, Bast…" I said as I looked at her. "Let me take the attack to Tesh. If it gets bad, back me up."

She nodded. "If that is what you wish. I could just… you know, hold him down for you. Let you have your way with him."

Not a bad idea, but I didn't like playing like that. No, if I'm going to beat Tesh, I'm going to do it by my own rules. "I think I'll keep this straight up simple. You take on Ashi; I'll take on Tesh."

Bast scoffed. "Take on Ashi? A whole second of me ignoring his juggling flames magicka? Please… I will be just standing around waiting for you to beat Tesh."

"Shouldn't take me any longer to win…" _Or lose._ I thought bitterly.

It was only a few more feet before I was standing in front of Ashi and Kharan. Ashi was still glaring at Bast, crossing his arms. "I knew I would have to spar someone… but a team battle? What a pain…" Ashi sighed heavily.

Bast growled, stepping closer to Ashi. "Your opponent is me and me alone. I've been wanting to fight you since I saw your magicka was flame based. I want to test myself against the namesake of firedrakes. And you're it."

Ashi smirked. "I assure you, you have no idea what you're in for if you're looking for a straight up fight."

Ksaan chuckled, looking at me. "She doesn't stand a chance. You're going to end up fighting them both."

I looked at Ashi. He wasn't strong at magicka. I would know… I've seen his flames. They're as weak as my lightning is currently. Bast was fast and strong. She'd run right through him. Why did Ksaan keep thinking Ashi would beat her?

I glanced over at Tesh; he was smiling wickedly as he stared me down. "So, this was your plan? Get me alone… get Bast to beat me up for you?" He stepped up to me, almost reaching out to grab me by my collar. He stopped himself just an inch away from my throat. "You do realize that when this is over… and you're kneeling at my feet, I'm going to enjoy every second of your surrender."

"That would be against the rules and us proctors would so become involved. Like… totally involved. We'd ruin you faster than you could see it coming." Ipyan said with a laugh as she walked up with M'Anurki following behind.

Tesh looked up at her with a sneer. "Your Illusions have no effect on me, J'Ipyan. Illusions don't work on me period."

Ashi looked over at Tesh, smiling at that. "Interesting. Is it a nullification thing?"

Tesh shook his head. "Copy magicka, actually. I can see through any magicka and copy it to my soulic imprint. Illusions… I can see right through them because of my copy magicka." Lightning started to crackle on his fur as he glared at me. "And you, Ahmbra… I'll show you what a true electromancer can do!"

Ipyan rolled her eyes. "Ok, whatever. Everyone, get ready." She nodded to Zharrim.

With a flash of Zharrim's eyes, we were suddenly transported to another world. We floated in open space, filled with bright distant stars, standing around as the entire galaxy shifted around us. We finally set down on top of a light liquid surface, just deep enough to make ripples when we walked. The night stars floated above us, reflecting back on the liquid ground we now stood up. My Khajiit night vision kicked in and I was suddenly able to see everyone standing around us. Ksaan, M'Anurki, and Ipyan all stood around us. They must be our proctors.

"I thought you weren't going to be observing us." Bast said to M'Anurki.

She shrugged. "This is a special occasion. I have to make sure no one gets hurt."

Ipyan walked up to the four of us. "This is designated as a team battle. Bast and Ahmbra versus Tesh and Ashi. Pretty much battle of the sexes." She looked back at the other proctors. "Place your bets." She looked back at us. "Rules are simple. All magicka at this point is non-lethal. Try as hard as you can, your claws and teeth are Shielded. Only magicka is the name of the game here."

"Crap." Bast muttered.

"Oh… don't worry, Bast. You're magicka is special. Your punches are still very powerful." M'Anurki replied.

Bast nodded. "That's all I needed to hear."

"Goes both ways, girl." Tesh replied. "You're not the only one trained in hand-to-hand. My father's a master of Whispering Fang."

Bast laughed. "My dad _invented_ Whispering Fang. Practically every Khajiit martial art, really."

"Enough word play." Ksaan said. "The match will last for three minutes. We will be judging your use of magicka. There is no pass or fail. There are only evaluations of your present skills, needed improvements, and for us trainers… a better understanding what you will need for the rest of the summer." He raised his hand. "Get ready… set…. Go!"

Bast took off like a lightning bolt, going right for Ashi. She moved so fluidly as she jumped into the air, flipping around as she brought her leg down right on top of Ashi. Ashi managed to roll under her attack like it was nothing, making her miss his head by mere inches. He jumped out of the way, quickly summoning a torrent of fire the size I've never seen before, firing it up at her. Man… Ashi is a lot faster and a lot stronger than I would have guessed.

I got sort of side-tracked watching Bast and Ashi because I was suddenly hit by a bolt of lightning hard enough to throw me off my feet. I felt that numbing sensation pulse through me as I hit the floor. My night vision flickered in and out for a few seconds before my eyes readjusted to the low-lit surroundings.

Tesh laughed as he warmed up another wad of lightning. "At least try to fight, you slave-bred shansha!" He launched another wad at me.

I screamed as I rolled away. The lightning crashed into the pool of water, instantly sending another pulse straight through my feet and hands pushing me up from the water. It went right up to my body. "Gods…"

"Don't say it!" Bast warned as she continued a momentous onslaught of energy at Ashi, who was just dancing around her attacks, laughing at her attempts to hit him. Meanwhile, he was launching more and more fire at her, which she was able to bat away like it was nothing.

I turned my attention back to Tesh. He had water floating up from the small pool underneath us. "You know… in order to use water as an element, you have to be emotionally perky? There was this one girl that was always smiling and laughing. She was my sister. Well, one day, she fought an electromancer… and he hit her hard enough that she went blind in both eyes. She was never perky ever again. Lost her ability to use her water magicka too. I hate electromancers. This copied magicka isn't even yours. It's that boy's… the one that blinded my sister. I killed him with it. First, I blinded him, and then I roasted him slowly from the inside out. Stopped his heart, started it back up, and then stopped it again… keeping him between life and death while making him apologize for blinding my older sister. He's dead now… couldn't bring him back the fifth time like I wanted. My sister still can't use her magicka, but it's nice to know that he won't bother her anymore. I'll miss my cousin but… he got what he deserved."

I growled as I tried to summon my own lightning magicka. I got a few sparks running down my arms and claw tips. "Are you justifying your hatred of me?"

He shook his head. "No. You're just a shansha. A sex slave. And you think you have the right to study at Rimmen Firedrake Academy? You think a runt like you with no lineage to speak of can study at the most exclusive school in Elsweyr? Why did they even allow a kid like you to take this test? You're not old enough to enter! You're not even talented enough to enter! You're a joke, a pretender! That's why I don't like you! This isn't some fairytale where the slave gets a makeover and suddenly becomes married to the prince, getting a castle and everything she ever wanted. This is where you end, little shansha. Time to put you back in your place, and leave the firedrakes to the truly deserving." Water started to dance around him, lightning coiling around it. "One pulse of this and you'll be out. And then I'll take out Bast and this test will be over. And if I ever see you skulking around our school, I'll be sure to put you where you belong every time I see you. You don't belong at our school. You don't belong in this city. You belong where you started… on your knees, bowing to people like me."

So… that was it then. That was why he hated me. Somehow… that felt freeing. All this time, I thought it was something I _did_ … but now I was sure that it wasn't my fault at all. I was here because I was told to be here. I'm in the school because I'm supposed to be there. And he doesn't know that. I might not be strong yet, but I managed to stop a rock once. I think I could do it again.

I felt a heavy boulder lift off my chest after hearing what Tesh said about me. And with that boulder, I felt new life come into my limbs. I felt a lot lighter.

"Well, time to end this." Tesh said as he launched his watered lightning water whip at me.

I brought my hands up, lightning coiling right through my veins, up my arm. An arc of lightning snapped right out of me, colliding with Tesh's water lightning whip. My lightning shattered the water whip.

Tesh stood there, partially stunned at what he just saw. I stood there too. I was just as shocked. I didn't expect it to actually work.

I heard Ksaan laugh from the side-lines. "I'm always right."

Tesh hissed as more and more water whips rose from the pool. Each one was crackling with lightning. "Let's see if you really belong here!" He screamed as he slashed at me with each whip.

Lightning flicked off my body, randomly. I can't control it yet. I think it was just reaching out for the water whips as they got near me. As lightning crackled off my limbs, off my shoulders, mane… it reached out for each whip as it drew near me, hitting the whips hard enough to break them. I just stood there and watched as it happened. As more and more whips came at me, I started getting more and more confident with my lightning. I actually started focusing on it, trying to direct it at whichever whip I wanted it to hit. I missed every shot I took though. Still… it felt pretty good. I was actually doing something other than making my clawtips crackle and pop.

I looked over at Bast, seeing her still fighting Ashi. She was getting nowhere with him. She was moving as fast as she could, slashing as hard as she could, making the small pool of water fly into the sky like it was geyser acting up with each power kick she gave. As I watched, I noticed something weird. One of her water explosions hit a small area of empty space… and… it slashed against something that wasn't there. It looked humanoid with a tail. The image quickly faded away, the water image vanishing. And that's when I figured it out.

"Ashi can't be hit because he's not real…" I mumbled to myself. "And Bast can't figure it out." Must be one heck of an illusion.

"What are you muttering over there? Look at me! I'm your opponent, not those two." Tesh screamed at me.

I looked over at Tesh. "Right… let's end this. I think Bast needs my help."

He smirked. "She can't beat my boy Ashi. The guy's just too… fast for her."

I tried to focus as I brought more lightning up. I cupped my hands like I did when I meditated. I tried to focus my lightning into my claws. More and more lightning began to crackle on my palms, the fur on my arms rising as lightning began to pulse out of me.

Tesh just stood there, watching me patiently. "Come on, shansha. Show me just how strong you think you are!"

I focused as I brought more and more lightning to my claws. Lightning would suddenly pop out of my palm, slam into the water hard enough to make a small explosion of steam. I took a deep breath, trying to keep myself calm as I pushed more and more lightning towards my palms. I heard from other elemental users that this is how they compounded their spells into stronger more explosive ones. And I wanted to hit Tesh hard enough that he would go down for good.

I started losing my breath as I struggled to keep building pressure. Tesh was still waiting for me. More and more lightning would pulse out of my arms and palms, crashing all around me. My whole body was now shooting lightning everywhere, even my tail was flicking beams of lightning out. I tried my best to will the lightning to aim at Tesh. I wanted all of it to hit him as hard as it could, as fast as it could. I couldn't hold it in anymore and stretched my arms out, screaming as I threw everything at him.

And just like that, my body exploded. Everything inside me suddenly pulsed out, hitting everything everywhere. I couldn't control it at all. I took the most of it. I felt my entire body shiver as my own lightning attacked me simply because it hit the water I was standing in. Everyone around us, excluding the proctors, cried out in pain. Even Tesh was falling to his knees as my lightning coursed through him. Bast was screaming her head off as she was hit too.

What more… the fake Ashi she was fighting was suddenly disappearing. I heard a real scream from the real Ashi as he was hit. His illusion dropped completely; Ashi falling into the water as well. Probably passed out. I don't know how long I stood there, my vision blacking out, my teeth grinding, my everything twitching. All I knew was that when I opened my eyes, we were no longer standing in the space arena. We were lying down in the wet marshlands we trained in.

Ksaan was standing over me, tapping me on the cheek. "Ahmbra… please be ok." He kept tapping me on the cheek.

"That is not how you were trained to do that, firedrake!" Loshin said as he raced up to us. He rushed by my side. "Notice… it's a reverse palm slap." He started tapping me on my cheek with the back of his hand.

I reached up to knock his hand away, but my body was stiff as a board. Great… paralyzed. I must have knocked that out too.

"Ugh…" Bast groaned as she started to sit up. "That… that was different." How was she moving already? I couldn't move… and it was _my_ attack that hit me!

She shambled her way over to me, practically walking on all fours as she tried to keep her balance. "Ahmbra… you ok?" She asked as she crawled up to me.

Loshin nodded. "She's just a little drained. She seems to have drained her magicka." He started running his hands over my aura, helping my body recover.

Ipyan smiled as she looked down at me. "And to think… she tried to use an Expert ranked spell. A Level 4 spell. And… she almost did it."

Ksaan nodded. "I knew this match was a good idea. She got exactly the motivation she needed to do it. And all it took was one idiot with a mouth and a similar magicka to hers to play with."

I wanted so badly to whomp him on the head for even suggesting that this battle was a good idea. Any other test involving a knowledgeable proctor would have had the same effect, if not greater. Now, I might have to deal with Tesh more often. I don't know if he'll ever stop treating me like crap, and now… I'm a piece of crap that made him pass out in a training bout.

I finally felt myself breathe. Loshin's healing abilities were amazing. My hand and tail began to twitch, and I took this time to look up at Bast. "Sorry."

She shook her head. "My fight was getting nowhere. For a second, I was beginning to wonder if he was… not really there. You confirmed it." She looked over at the unconscious Ashi. "His magicka is not fire… it's Illusion. I don't know how he does it… but he was able to hide everything from us this whole time."

I tried to nod. "I noticed when you were fighting him. Your thrown water would splash against him. I figured it out… thought I'd end my fight with Tesh so I could come help you find Ashi."

"Well, you got him." Bast said with a small hint of a laugh. "And you got Tesh." She looked over at him for me. "He's drooling on himself." She looked down at me. "Should I do something to him? Stuff a bottle of hot sauce in his mouth? Shove glue on his tail and shove _that_ in his mouth? Ooh… mud. I'm thinking mud."

I shook my head. "No, Bast. Just… let him be. I can beat him now."

M'Anurki laughed as she looked down at me. "You? Beat him?" She shook her head. "He's Level 2, M'Ahmbra. And has access to all sorts of magicka that aren't water and lightning. He was preparing a Shield spell for your beam spell you were trying to figure out. He would have survived the blast, but you… you still would have ended up on the ground. That tends to happen when you throw _everything_ out at once. But… congrats. You're definitely Level 1. Keep it up and you'll be Level 2 soon enough. Of course I should explain the leveling system. Levels 1 and 2 are both novice ranks. Level 1 mages are just beginning to figure out how to summon their magicka. Level 2's though… they can consciously control their magicka for an extended period of time. You couldn't even control it for a second. It was shooting everywhere, without will or purpose behind it. Sure, you were summoning a lot of it, and pretty quickly but… you quickly showed just how much control you don't have when it exploded, hitting you and everyone else… even your teammate. So, you're no Level 2. And if you had pulled off the blast, we might have considered submitting that move to the school council and get you bumped up to Level 3… the apprentice level where people begin to build up their spells to form even more powerful variants of what they already can do."

Ok… so at least I know how the leveling system works in this town now. "Is that how I can tell who's what rank?"

She nodded. "More or less. Level 4… you have to be able to sustain multiple compounded spells, a lot of Zharrim's Sanctuary spells. Experts of their magicka, able to concentrate on multiple spells that vary in range and strength. He has so many of them right now… and he's busy proctoring as well." She pushed on my shoulder. "Don't worry, you'll get there someday. I'm sure of it."

Ipyan looked down at us. "I'm happily surprised with everyone. Ma'Tesh showed true apprenticeship with his combining two different elemental magicka. That is pretty hard. I'd say that's a Level 4 spellwork there."

M'Anurki nodded. "However, nothing was really focused or compacted. M'Ahmbra's lightning was quickly able to shatter their formations, making the combination useless. But still impressive to connect two separate elements together. Easily Level 3."

Ksaan nodded. "Easily. If he can make one spell build up, he'll pass that entrance exam with no problem."

Ipyan looked over at Bast. "What about Ma'Bast? She's really, really special."

"Level 3." M'Anurki said, waving her hand dismissively. "Agility magicka is hard to become an expert at. She hasn't learned how to use some of her other latent magicka either. Still, she survived M'Ahmbra's attack just fine. Not exactly what I would expect from the daughter of…"

"Enough." Bast said. "You will not discuss my father here."

M'Anurki shrugged. "If you wish. Still, hitting Level 4 with your particular magicka is hard, near impossible. Your magicka might be combative, but it's only in relation to your heightened reflexes, slightly advanced strength, and the ability to scan others' weaknesses. I suppose it might be possible if you become impossible to beat in battle… but we all know how that worked out for you today."

Bast smiled. "I care not for your leveling system. I'm just here to complete my mission. To find, befriend, and protect the mythical ballista. Whomever she might be. Anything else is bothersome and in my way." She glanced over at me. "And that includes you as well, Ahmbra. It was nice teaming up with you, and if Tesh continues to harass, you will have my help at a second's notice. But consider this the extent of our friendship. I will not be joining you for movies and snacks, as much of the other girls would."

Yeah, I figured as much. That's ok. I still had Kharan that I could hang out with. Not to mention Irira or Truvii. We kind of bonded while we were here. And I still had to train with Ksaan until I passed my test. By then, I should have enough friends that I won't feel too lonely when he inevitably moves away to Torval to be a firedrake.

Ipyan brought the conversation back to her when she walked over to Ashi. "And… the Illusionist Projector. Making everyone see his mental images. He affected both Bast and Ahmbra, as far as I could tell. And it was compounded with the illusion that he was actually blasting Bast with real fire, while making himself completely invisible. The imagery was near flawless, adaptive, and moved with the same speed that Bast moved with. That would mean that Ashi had to think as fast and adapt his Illusions as quickly as Bast tried to fight him. Easily Level 4."

Ksaan nodded. "Maybe even Level 5."

M'Anurki shook her head. "Not that high, but definitely Level 4. And to think… he had us all fooled into believing he was a Level 1 Pyro."

Ksaan crossed his arms. "Not me. I've survived Ipyan's Influencer on several occasions. Even tried to make out with me before she started dating Loshin."

Ipyan's face puffed up, our version of a blush. "Well… I… yeah." She sagged her shoulders in defeat.

Ksaan looked back at Ashi. "And M'Ashi pushed the same kind of image in my head. Projection… not a bad magicka. Making it nearly flawless like that though. Very impressive." He nodded. "He made a great partner for this. I'm glad we had him join with Tesh." He looked back at me. "So… are you ready to go home? Or do you want to stay and party first?"

I really wanted to go home, but… I just realized I'm not as bad as I thought. "Can I change first?" I _was_ sitting in a puddle of marsh water and mud. No way I'm walking around like this for the rest of the day.

Ksaan nodded. "Of course. But you didn't answer my question. Party or pack?"

I'm not very social… but I'm trying to be. The seniors had to break down the camp and get ready for their classes tomorrow on Morndas. I just had to pull myself out of bed and find something to do until Ksaan gets off class. "I should let you get this place pulled down and home so you can rest before you have class."

The seniors, M'Anurki included, all laughed at my suggestion. Loshin shook his head as he stood up. "She really doesn't know anything about being a teenager, does she?"

Ksaan shook her head. "Not a thing. She still thinks books are for reading…"

Ipyan sighed heavily. "Oh… poor thing." She bent down to see me eye-to-eye. "With one glance in my eyes, I could Influence you. Make you learn everything it means to be a teenager. Your choice…"

That was a no-brainer. I looked away. "No." Ksaan warned me about her. She would probably be the worst person in the world for me to associate with. "I'll learn it on my own."

Ipyan shrugged as she stood back up. "Your choice, kitten. I'll be here if you change your mind. Or… if you want to feel other things." Gods no.

I looked up at Ksaan. "So, you're pretty much going to party if I stay or go, right?"

He nodded. "The last night of camp is always sitting past midnight all the way until perhaps sunrise, cooking marshmallows, making s'mores. Everyone attending this camp has tomorrow off so… it won't matter to any of us either way." He rubbed my mane thoroughly, laughing. "It's a time to celebrate, Ahmbra! And it will be your first real party! And here's probably what will happen. We'll probably have contests declaring who achieved which award and why… dancing, eating, jumping through the fire after jumping in the swamp water first… fights will probably break out. You'll probably kiss your first guy."

"Did that already." I said. "And if you wanted to honorific me… it wouldn't be M'Ahmbra. It would be J'Ahmbra." I really didn't need to explain that to anyone. We all know why children under 15 switch honorifics from M' to J'.

That cut the mood really quickly. Bast only face-palmed. "I will see you on testing day, unless you need me sooner." She turned to leave. "It was… interesting to fight by your side. May we never do so again." She glared at me before departing. She bowed to Ksaan and the others before walking back to the illusionary mansion Zharrim somehow kept going all four days I was here. And he probably had it up since before the training camp actually started. To hold only a dimensional spell like that for that long… amazing.

Ksaan bent down, helping to lift me out of the mud and filthy water. My limbs were still pretty wobbly but I managed to stay on my feet without falling over. That's a good start.

Loshin smirked. "I'll get the moon sugar."

Ipyan nodded. "And I'll get the spice rum."

Oh no… I'm about to have my first party. I just hope I'm ready for this.

* * *

 **Cearbhail:**

 _Tomorrow... Chronicles of the Commonwealth and then Veselle then Shoutmen. Not all on the same day. When I get to them, but Commonwealth should be by tomorrow late late evening. Hopefully.  
_


	7. Moon's Delights

**Cearbhail:**

 _So... I'm going to do something special for this series for now on. At the end of each chapter, I will say some random fact about one of the characters. Nothing too spoiler-ish. Just to have a little fun, that's all.  
_

 _=^^= Enjoy..._

* * *

 _Dear diary,_

 _Today is the 4th of Second Seed. Well, the party was… something. Fun, maybe? I don't know, I don't think I do parties the same way everyone else does. I mostly just stood around the food table, watching everyone do fun stuff. Some of the third-year students were making out and playing each other in these weird card games that I guess the Khajiit with glasses, Lani, invented. I guess his magicka is his ability to create Illusion-based cards and actually summon them to the real world. He spent the most of his night battling his purrmate, Bhiia. Ksaan and his friends spent their evening drinking moon milk. Ipyan offered me a glass too, but when I refused, next thing I knew, I was already three glasses in and playing limbo. I had such a headache, and everything was spinning around me. It got bad enough that I asked Ksaan to take me home. He nodded, taking me back to my house. He asked me what happened, and I told him Ipyan may have Influenced me. He was very upset when he heard that._

 _We sneaked into my house, trying to be as quiet as possible. I'm guessing humans are easy to sneak around. I was falling all over the place, and no one ever bothered to come out to see what was going on. With Ksaan's help, I was able to climb into my bed. Even with night vision, it was so dark I didn't even bother taking in my surroundings. I was worn out, and this headache wasn't just going to go away anytime soon. As soon as I climbed into my bed, Ksaan wished me goodnight and went out my balcony window. I ended up closing my eyes and next thing I knew it was already afternoon. I woke up to the sun glaring in my eyes, and a plate filled with fruits sitting next to me. There's a note too, telling me that I'm grounded for drinking alcohol. Oops. I'll have to tell them it wasn't my fault. Maybe they'll believe me._

 _Anyway, I should get up now. Not sure what I'll be doing today, but I'm guessing it will be more magicka training._

 _Ahmbra Dragonis._

 _…_

Eating fruit in my bed. My bed. An actual bed. In my room… my actual room. Everything inside the room was mine. No matter how much I thought it, no matter how many times I glance at everything inside the room… the room itself… it all just feels like a dream. I still remember the stalls, the small wrappings of leather and straw I'd sleep on top of. The wake up calls of buckets of water being thrown on my face. The cages I'd be shoved in from time to time. All the abuse, the laughs… everything that comes with living in a slave camp.

So, I know my room had gone through a little change since I last saw it. Where the old bed used to be was a completely new one. It used to have a pink frilly cover but… Ruby ruined that. My room used to be a nice pink color… but Ruby ruined that. I used to have a really nice carpet… but… you know. The room was so far incomplete but… still… it's very nice. My bed was replaced with an even nicer one, made of some kind of foam material. I sink into it every time I lay down. Just getting up seems impossible for me today. I don't want to leave it.

The room itself was pretty nice, pretty spacious too. I had a full closet, a dresser, a massive flat-screen crystal ball, called a Seer's Stone, sitting on a crystal ball stand near my closet. To the right of my bed was my large glass window door that led out to my balcony. My bedroom was on the first floor, but since the hills of Rimmen were different, the first floor was also the second floor. You had to climb up a set of stairs to get to the back part of the house. The rest of the second floor was just a few more stairs up. I'd like to think of this room as the middle floor, between the first and second. All Khajiit beach houses are built on these massive wooden poles that bore into the sand, keeping everything level and off the sandy floor, if not only by a few feet. Mostly in case of small floods.

Oh yeah… we live on the beach. Right outside one of the more active beaches too. I've been there once or twice, but other than that, I haven't done much here yet. This was the first time I've been back to the house since I saw it nearly a month ago.

I turned my attention back to my bowl of fruit: a banana, an apple, and a vine of grapes. This had to be what my breakfasts would be like. Or maybe it's for the burning pulsing headache I seem to have this morning. I started taking a bite of my apple when I heard soft footsteps coming down the stairs. There was a light rap on my door, "Ahmbra? You awake?"

"Yes." I said through my munching.

The door squeaked open and Mom poked her head in. "May I come in?"

I nodded. "Sure." I had the option to tell her no? That would take some time to adjust to. That would mean that I have privacy, something that never existed for me in the past.

She walked into the room, dressed in an apron and working maid outfit. I remember her telling me that she worked at Moon's Delights… the same place I signed on to work for while attending my first semester. "First off, Ksaan told me what happened. Forget the note I left you. When we woke up, we saw you curled up in your bed, moaning. Ralof sniffed the alcohol on your breath when we tried to wake you up. We thought you broke the rules by drinking… but Ksaan told us you had no choice in the matter. You met M'Ipyan." Mom shook her head. "Please don't hang out with her. She's… well… not a good influence."

She has no idea…

I nodded, swallowing my piece of apple. "Don't worry, I want nothing to do with her." And yet… I bet I just won't be able to get rid of her. If she's deadest on messing with me like she did last night, I bet she'll find some way of interfering with my life.

Mom pat me on the shoulder before standing up. "Well, I have to go back to work. I thought I'd just come check up on you, see if you were up yet." She stood up, walking to the door. "Ralof won't be home until Freedas, unless he catches enough fish to fill up his ship." Dad owned his own fishing vessel. When he moved down here with Mom, he had a friend from Bravil, Cyrodiil come join him in Rimmen. They both take the ship out with a small crew and catch fish to sell to the two towns, as well as other port towns nearby like Senchal.

"Mom." I called after her. She paused in the doorway. "Can I come see Moon's Delights?"

She scrunched her eyebrows. "I'm not sure… I will be working the whole time, and I'll be there for another few hours still. I won't be able to walk you home if you get bored."

I shook my head. "I'll be fine walking home on my own. It's just… I'll be working there, remember? I kind of want to introduce myself and learn my way around town."

Mom stood there for another few seconds before nodding. "Sure. I have a few minutes of my lunch so… hurry up, get washed up, dressed, and brush your teeth. You don't want to meet Sa'Martha smelling like alcohol and vomit on your clothes like that."

I glanced down, noticing I must have spat up a bit after I fell asleep, or during the party, it's hard to tell. And Ksaan just let me crash on my bed like this. I bet he just wanted to get back to that party before it ended. Oh well.

I glanced up at Mom, nodding my thanks to her. "I'll just be a minute."

She nodded. "Hope so."

…

One amazing cleanup later, I was dressed and ready to go. Mom was waiting for me on the balcony. When I joined her outside, I nodded to her. "So… are we walking? Or do we have a carriage?"

She shook her head and started walking towards the street. "We _had_ a carriage. It got destroyed when Ruby was here. I'm saving up for a new one. All our savings went into buying Ruby, which more than likely would have been spent buying you." She rubbed the back of my neck. "The plan was to free as many slaves as possible, bring them to Skyrim, and then convince the High King to declare war on the slave trade. He did it before I could even ask. And then… I would perhaps bring back a homeless child needing a loving home. Never expected Ruby to be there."

Jeez, Ruby was just ruining everything, wasn't she? But still… it's because of her that I get to live here at all. It's because of her that I'm still alive. Or rather, it's because of her mother, Lydia. She did all those things to free me. Ruby quietly gave up and let the slaver do whatever they wanted to us. I can't blame her though. She told me about her friends and how they would be harmed if she didn't comply. I would have done the same in her fur.

I followed behind Mom as she led me to Moon's Delights. I kept my eyes darting around the town as Mom filled me in on all the history of the town that she had learned in the few months she's been here. She told me of how the town was saved by a firedrake named Junna, a warrior named Brahstra, and a mage from Cyrodiil named Granren. These three saved the town from a mercenary troop called The Trade, which had no known relation to Rimmen's questing guild named The Trade. Most of this stuff I already knew, but Mom filled me in on how exactly the town had evolved since then.

I guess Junna had some kind of talent for teaching magicka, and she managed to take everyone from town and helped them embrace a new lifestyle. The whole town was more or less destroyed from the battle that took place, but the healer Granren was able to help with the wounded civilians. It was then that the three heroes found out that the town was a nexus for drug trafficking. The Trade was slowly taking over what the Crushers left behind for them. So, they decided to stay in the town indefinitely as the town's protectors; defending it against the drug trade.

After a while, Junna was able to find out that there were a few other Khajiits with latent magicka potential. If the town was to survive, it would need more protectors. That was how RFA began. Junna and Granren started teaching the new firedrakes how to use their natural gifts. Both Junna and Granren agreed that the old institutions of magicka were not working. The Psijic Monks that began the very concept was the grand design of how the town would work. Instead of practicing known spells that had been regulated for centuries by politicized mage charters, the Firedrake Academy decided that the individual would be responsible for development of their own personal magicka. It was a rare gift, usually soulic in form, and hard to obtain. But the idea was to help the town see what they could be inside if they ever just tried to become greater. The idea behind this was to help ease the drug-diseased town out of its bad habits and embrace a grander destiny.

The academy began with a few students learning from Junna and Granren, but as the academy grew older, and the students growing stronger, the town around these new students began to evolve as well. These newly developing magicka students were helping out around the town, helping along the thought that this new magicka was worth having, that anyone could learn it. Just a few years into the whole program, the town was attacked by some raiders. The new firedrakes stepped up and defended the town, driving the bandits away with no casualties on their side. The firedrakes were trained in magicka from Granren and Junna's example. Magicka that no one had really ever seen before, and it was because of this that the mages on the raiders' side were incapable of a well-rehearsed defense. And the physical prowess of the firedrakes in combat that was drilled into them from Brahstra helped in pushing away the sword masters and the like.

After a series of attacks after attacks, these firedrakes began to militarize themselves. They knew all too well that the town would be harassed more and more as skooma began to deplete from the nearby settlements. Rimmen was originally founded for the moon sugar plantations with easily defendable canyons nearby and a river exiting all the way to the ocean and to the Imperial City. It made Rimmen the ideal location for any skooma trafficking. Knowing this, Brahstra started leading the firedrakes in the town, helping to form something of a watchmen system, calling themselves Fire Sentinels.

Meanwhile, the school was gaining even more attention from the local residents. They saw the changes in the new firedrakes, wanting to be more like them. As more and more firedrakes began to graduate, the more and more Khajiits from the town that began to dress in the same robes. The militarized Khajiits began to coordinate their little army, calling it the Fire Legion; named after Torval's Fire Legion. It had only taken 14 years for all this to take place. And when the Fire Legion began patrolling the streets, enforcing made up laws that governed Khajiit supremacy, the local elven population decided to act in accordance. The Aldmeri Magicka Institute opened up a year later, taught by the eldest Altmer, Dunmer, and Bosmer.

As the elves began to publicly teach their own children how to do this new 'magicka' that the Khajiit were embracing, there seemed to be a power struggle within the city. Elves already had a natural affinity for magicka, and what the Khajiit were learning was not considered real magick. The structured format that the elves had originally created was often mocked by the Khajiits, and sometimes by their own children. The elders began fighting for control of the schools as more and more elven children wanted to learn this soulic magick that seemed so diverse and personal. It took years but the school eventually embraced the new system, and that's when the whole town began to change.

With two powerful school of this new magicka vying for control of the city, there was a bit of a turf war. Elves and Khajiits would meet in the streets, often calling each other out in personal duels. These duels were often non-fatal and often ended up ending with one side admitting defeat. It started to become tradition that whenever one school met another one, there would almost always be a fight. Sometimes with multiple students of each. As the escalations grew, the two schools knew that enough had been enough. The elders of the Aldmeri Institute and the three original instructors of Firedrake Academy met for a peace treaty. It was then that the town decreed that this town would be united in its efforts to learn and develop this soulic magicka, and that the academies, whether not more would develop, would exist in a cooperative manner. Duels still continued in the streets, however, and as time went on, they became more about testing one's strength rather than dominance.

As time went on, the elven spellcasters began to vie for their own version of the Fire Legion. There was still this stigma that the Khajiit were controlling Rimmen, even though Rimmen had seceded from Elsweyr and formed its own nation. As the elders of the schools met up once again, it was decided that they would form a unified guard force called Mage Force. As all this went along, the non-practitioners were going about their lives. There were a lot of shopkeepers, inns, fishers, brewers, and farmers. Mining wasn't so good in this location, but divers were a popular trade. The town had grown economically, opening trade routes with Elsweyr's towns, mostly Senchal by riverboat, Leyawiin to the east, and Bravil to the north.

Soon more and more magicka driven institutions began to open up around town. All focused on this soulic method of magicka. As the town grew, the more this became a way of living in Rimmen. By the time RFA was 60 years old, the town had transformed into a new one. When Junna passed away, the town had already agreed to the original accords signed during the peace treaty between RFA and AMI. The town had evolved to a grand nation with six sub-cities within their borders. The town had grown so much in such a short time, and the majority of the population was dedicated to the practice of her discovery. That was why Junna was a hero to this town. She brought it back from the ashes when it was certain to fall. A city filled with skooma addicts and turned into a town of magicka addicts… well… that sounds kind of bad when you think of it like that, but that was the original intent.

By the time I heard the complete history of this town from Mom, we were already at Moon's Delights. It had been a ten-minute walk, I think. It felt that long. Moon's Delights looked just like the photo I saw. It was a nice-sized diner with an open welcoming feeling. The windows were large and I could see the whole dining area from right where I was standing on the sidewalk. I could see that the majority of the staff were Khajiits, all dressed in the same maid uniforms I saw in the photo. So, I would be wearing one of those. I noticed that Mom's uniform was a little different from the Khajiits'.

I decided to ask her about it. "So… why is your uniform different?"

She looked down, shrugging. "They're servers. I'm a cook." She nudged me, smiling. "You thought the apron was for show?" She rushed into the door, nodding at me to follow. "Come, I'll introduce you to the pastry chef. The owner: Sa'Martha."

I followed behind Mom. As I walked through the doorway, I was welcomed to a welcoming scent of rising dough laden with moon sugar. Donuts. Yum..

There was a teenager just a couple years older than me with shoulder length blue mane fur waiting by the door. "Hi, welcome to Moon's Delights. My name is Keira, and I'll be your server today."

Mom shook her head. "She's my daughter, not a customer."

Keira's eyes lit up as she looked down at me. "Oh, welcome, M'Ahmbra! We've heard so much about you!" She shook my hand vigorously. She bent down, looking me in the eye. "And don't worry! Your secret is safe with us!" She whispered to me, winking as she rose up. Secret? Did she mean me being a slave? She _knew_?! Did _everyone_ in this shop know? Jeez… who _doesn't_ know?

Mom smiled at Keira. "You seem well today."

She shrugged. "Well, I do have the day off of class today, so… I thought I'd take one of my extra shifts." She smiled down at me. "So, we heard you'll be joining us at RFA!"

I nodded. Was she a firedrake too? "Yeah… I'll be taking the admittance test in a month."

Keira nodded. "Yeah, I took that last summer. I've learned so much this year." So, she was a first year then? "I'm already a Level 3! I'm so happy!" Tiny orbs of light started to develop around her, brightening everything around her. That must be her magicka.

"What's going on over there?" The woman I noticed from the picture walked over to us. She was a thick-furred clouded leopard. She looked a lot like Enji… who I think I saw in that picture too. And seeing how I could see pictures of her on the wall next to the register… I think I knew who Enji's mother was.

The older Khajiit glanced down at me and then up at Mom. "So, is this her?" She smiled as she walked over to me. "Is this M'Ahmbra?" She bent down to see me eye-to-eye. She pinched my cheek, pulling a bit on my whiskers. "She sure is thin. Has she been eating?"

Mom nodded. "Fruits, mostly." Mom looked down at me. "Ahmbra, this is Sa'Martha."

I nodded. "Nice to meet you, ma'am."

She nodded back. "Nice to meet you too. So… I hear you'll be joining us this upcoming semester."

I nodded. "Yes, ma'am. That's why I wanted to come here today."

She looked me up and down. She sighed as she pinched my cheek again. She started rubbing my neck, which started reminding me of my past. I don't really remember what happened next, mostly because I shut myself down. There was a slight pause as I started turning my brain back on.

"She's going to be a tough one alright." Sa'Martha said with a heavy sigh. "One touch and she shuts down like a Dwemer bot." She looked up at Mom. "You know as well as I do that some days this place gets packed. Physical contact might happen at some point. And if she freaks out by one touch on the neck…"

Mom nodded. "I pleaded with her to take a different job. She wouldn't have it. She said she needed this."

I nodded, finally coming back to my full senses. "If I'm to recover, I need to learn how to be above it."

Sa'Martha looked back at me, sighing again. "Fine. I'll let you work here, but… if I tell you to take it easy… you take it easy. If I tell you to take a break, you take a break. If that break doesn't seem to help, you will be told to go home for the day. I don't expect you to just blindly listen to me; I want you to think for yourself. If you think you're fine to work, I want you to combat my decision. If you think you're incapable of working… tell me that instead. And if you get uncomfortable serving _any_ of my customers, you tell me. Understand?"

Keira patted me on the shoulder, smiling. "And I'll be here too!" She looked over to Sa'Martha. "If you'll let me come back next year."

Sa'Martha laughed at the suggestion. "If I fire you, those old codgers will yell at me to no end. Not a chance." Hmm… maybe I don't want to work here after all.

"Um… exactly what is my job here?" I couldn't help but ask.

Sa'Martha glanced at me, looking me in the eye. "To get you used to being social… what Keira's doing right now. Greeting the customers at the door as the hostess. Show them to their tables. Maybe clean up their tables at the end of their meal. Not sure yet. I have a few months to think about it. You're a special case. We don't have a lot of … you around here."

I'm just never going to escape that, am I? "Can I please be treated normal?"

Sa'Martha glanced at me with a mournful look. "I don't know. Can you?" She caressed my neck again and next thing I knew I was standing in the back room with Sa'Martha and Mom holding me down. I glanced around, not sure how I got here.

"Um…" I noticed my arms were hurting.

Mom released my arm. "Ahmbra… please don't do that again."

"Do what again?" I glanced up at Mom to see three long slashes in her cheek. They were bleeding lightly, but I could tell they were fresh. I glanced down to see specks of blood on my dress. Glancing up, I could see three similar stain lines forming around Sa'Martha's face.

"Oh…" I looked at my claws, seeing both of them stained in blood. "Oh no…" This was not good. This was not good at all.

Sa'Martha nodded. "This is not new." She said as she let go of my arm. "We've had to deal with freed slaves all the time. You're regressing. You're no longer a tool, and you realize that. But the torment is still there, still fresh. But you're free now! And you know that. And so… instead of shutting down, you act out. If anyone tries anything on you, you'll subconsciously act out in aggression. To protect yourself, your newly found freedom."

I glanced at Mom. "But… she was hugging me earlier. I didn't… I don't think…"

Sa'Martha nodded. "She's your safe place. You feel trusted in letting her near you. Me… I'm a stranger. You'll shred me if you get the chance. And unfortunately, when you mother tried to stop you, you acted out against her too. You're a hazard, M'Ahmbra. Letting you work here is not only dangerous for you, but dangerous for my business. But… that's why I'm going to let you work here. I know I can help you. You just need time; one tiny step at a time. And while you're here, I can watch you. If you're going to live in this city, I want to know you can handle being touched. Elders love touching; it's a form of social connection for them. And if you go around slashing all the elders… like you did me… it's going to cause trouble for you later on. So, work on actively letting people touch you from time to time. Try holding hands with some of your friends. Maybe let one of them touch your face."

I released a long sigh, trying my best to calm down. "I'll try." This would be so embarrassing. I'd have to ask my friends to hold my hands and stuff. Well, at least I knew one person I could let touch me. Bast. She is a great fighter and has no emotional connection to me. Should be easier for me to let her touch me than Kharan or Ksaan.

Sa'Martha nodded. "Good. Now, I guess it's time you met my daughter. She'll likely be joining you this semester." Oh, right. She's Enji's mother, right? "Enji!", she sang. Ha! I was right.

The door to the dining area creaked open and the shy Khajiit girl I met at camp poked her head in. "Is she normal now?" I could see a line of blood across her forehead. Oh man… her too? Who else did I slash?

She glanced over at me with fearful eyes. I never wanted anyone to look at me like that. So, I waved to her, trying my best to smile like Ruby would have. "Hi… I'm Ahmbra."

She nodded to me. "Enji." She glanced at her mother. "Mom? What did you want?"

She waved at me. "Well, as you already know, Ahmbra is a slave who needs a friend." Oh no… no, no, no! "I want you to help her." No!

Enji looked up at me with the same fearful eyes. "Do I have to?" Man, she didn't want anything to do with me at all. I can understand though. I did slash her across the head. Even I wouldn't want anything to do with me after that.

Sa'Martha placed her hands on her hips, giving Enji a stern look. "If anyone in this room is capable of helping her… it's you."

"But Dad…" She started to say before her mom cut her off.

"That's in the past, Enji!" Sa'Martha interrupted her. "This girl is in the present. You're a mind healer so… you will help her heal."

Enji's ears folded back at being scolded. "Yes, mother."

I looked over to Sa'Martha. "What do you mean she's a mind healer?"

She glanced at me, smiling. "My daughter's magicka is an ability that lets her enter your mind and help you heal from your past trauma. With her helping you along, you'll more than likely heal from that aggression you've unleashed today. Any amount of help from her might keep that from coming back." She glanced back at Enji. "But, before she's fully capable of doing that, she has to attune to the target's aura thingy. I don't really know how it works, I just know that it does." She shrugged. "So, if the two of you become good friends, she should be able to safely crawl inside your mind and help you."

I glanced back at Enji. "So…" I looked around. I had no idea what to do or say next. "What now?"

She glanced at me fearfully before looking back at her mother. "Do I have to?"

Sa'Martha nodded. "Yes, but not today. You can wait until the end of your first semester. But… I want you to heal her before then. Understood?"

Enji nodded. "Yes, mother."

Everyone just stood there for a few seconds. It was very awkward for me. I kept glancing around, expecting something to happen, but nothing did. There was finally a bell chiming, one that made me jump a bit. Sa'Martha glanced at the bell, sighing. "Coming!" She called as she walked away. "Ysolda, we have an order of strawberry shortcakes and three cheese wonders."

Mom nodded. "Right away!" She looked back at me, winking. "I have to get working now." She kissed me on the forehead. "And don't worry about the scratches. I get you were scared. I could see your pupils dilate before… well… I knew you weren't aware of anything."

I tried to nod, but I still felt sick to my stomach. I slashed my mother. I slashed my future boss… and I slashed a newest friend. Who else did I slash?

I looked over at Enji. She was still cowering behind the door. "I'm sorry." I said to her.

She nodded really quickly. "Yeah, ok. Um…" She glanced away. "Bye." She quickly closed the door behind her.

I don't know exactly how long I stood there for. I just tried my best to recall what I did. And I got nothing. All I remember was Sa'Martha rubbing my neck and then I was lying on my back with her and Mom holding me down in the backroom. It was weird. I hated it. I wanted nothing more than this new life of mine to start, and yet… every single day I'm reminded of just how messed up I really am.

As I stood there, I could hear crackling. Lightning was starting to spark off my fur. It wasn't a lot of lightning, but I was forced to calm myself down before I did something regrettable again. I forced myself to sit down in seiza, closing my eyes, and taking deep breaths as I tried to calm myself down.

"You guys want some snacks?" I heard Loshin say as he stepped into the diner. I heard the door slam open as he walked in.

"You know it!" Ipyan responded.

That caused me to pause. _They_ were here? The two people in this entire town I'm supposed to avoid? Great… just great.

* * *

 **Cearbhail:**

 _So, random fact about Keira. She's based on an actual character I have for an older series of mine: Blood summoners. The main protagonist was a girl with blue-dyed hair named Kerra who was the daughter of a major protagonist from the previous series that took place perhaps 5 years ago in Bond Summoners. This series never was finished so I never tried to have it published, but decided to add to this story as a bit of a side-character and friend to Ahmbra. I'm still considering if I even want to work on either of those stories, mostly because I'm having so much fun writing fanfiction, writing my own work seems boring. And just like Kerra, Keira is a spunky rebellious type that works with lightning, much in the same way Ahmbra does, only her magicka manifests as little orbs of glowing plasma. They paralyze people upon touching, but anything beyond that is too hard for her.  
_

 _The last thing I will say about Keira is that she has a bit of a love triangle going on between her, Prishi, and her friend Scarlett. and that's all for this chapter._


	8. Mage Force

**Cearbhail:**

 _I know I'm posting a lot of new chapters for this faster than I am other series, but... in my defense, I really enjoy writing this one series over the others. Anyway, soon I'll be back to doing the New Assassin's Den, as well as the second story for Untold Tales. I doubt a lot of people read either of those stories, or this one either. Eh, I guess no one will ever know until I post new chapters then.  
_

 _=^^= Enjoy..._

* * *

How could I escape this diner without attracting anyone's attention? I heard Loshin coming in through the doorway, and I heard Ipyan laughing as the two of them walked in. I knew they were here, and while I have no real grudge against Loshin… I was warned by Ksaan to stay away from him. He was one of the dangerous students that would use me if he got the chance. And I've seen what his magicka was like. He could paralyze me with barely a touch. And that didn't even compare to what Ipyan could do to me… or make me do to myself.

I sighed as I started to stand up from my seated position. I had to try to keep myself as quiet as possible. I know Khajiits have strong senses of smell and hearing. Heck, everyone probably knows I'm already in here, if they're familiar with my scent. I wasn't all that familiar with theirs yet, so chances are they weren't familiar with mine either.

I slowly walked over to the serving window, where Sa'Martha was taking an order from one of the elder Khajiits. He looked very tall and buff; he had to be a Cathay-raht. He smelled like one. He casted a small glance at me, and I could see a small line across his brow. It was fresh with blood. He must have been one of the few I nicked when I went full crazy just a few minutes ago. "Thanks for the great mean, Martha. Those Senchal noodles are just… perfect."

Sa'Martha, my soon-to-be boss, laughed at the older man's comment. "Well, growing up in Senchal, you learn a thing or two."

"So, I believe I owe you 1 silver and 2 copper pieces, right?" The elder said.

Sa'Martha nodded. "Right. One silver for the Senchal Ramen, and 2 copper for the Waning Moon."

The elder gave her the small coins, nodding to her and then glancing at me. He gave me a stern look, nodding to me as well as he turned off. "Take care, young one. It happens more often than you think." He lifted up his shirt, showing me a branded scar right above his right breast. "You're not alone." He winked to me before lowering his shirt and walking away.

Sa'Martha glanced back at me. "Dro'Wiskers. He was a slave in Morrowind owned by a Telvanni family. He learned magicka and moved here once slavery was abolished. He's over 400 years old… the oldest Khajiit ever to live. But… his personal magicka is something of a healing factor that helps him age very gracefully. He was a slave in Morrowind for 300 years before being released… and he'll likely live another 100 if he's careful." She shrugged. "He's living out the remainder of his years in retirement. He comes here every day." She said with a smile. "I'm sure you'll be great friends in no time."

"Hey, morning!" I heard Hiarria say as she walked up to the counter. "We're ready to take our orders." She glanced away from Sa'Martha, glancing at me. Her face lit up. "M'Ahmbra?" She smiled wide. "Hi! Did you sleep well?"

"M'Ahmbra?" I heard Ksaan say. Oh great…

'M'Ahmbra's here?" Ipyan said next. Before I knew it, the whole counter was filled with Ksaan and his friends.

"Morning, M'Ahmbra." Loshin nodded to me. "I forgot you were working here. How did you enjoy your first party?"

"I didn't." I replied back to Loshin. That seemed to have taken him off guard a bit, like he wasn't expecting me to admit to hating the party.

Sa'Martha glanced back at me again. "Well, aren't you popular." She smiled, turning to face Ksaan and his friends. "Ok, so what are you having?"

"Three orders of Cheese Wonder; one order of Lite Bites; and one order of fries. Three smoothies: strawberry banana; watermelon strawberry; and grape blueberry." Hiarria said. "And two glasses of Full Moon."

"Make mine a Waxing Moon." Loshin said with a grin.

Sa'Martha shook her head. "Just because you're of age doesn't mean…"

Loshin shrugged. "I won't drink too much."

She shrugged in reply. "Ok then. Want some Waning thrown in too?"

He shook his head. "Not today."

Ipyan gave me a warning glance, motioning me. "We need to talk."

Ksaan nudged her on her arm. "Stop messing with her." He gave her a warning glance right back. "She's not your toy."

Ipyan glanced back at Ksaan. "You can…" Her eyes started to glow, but it quickly faded away when she heard Ksaan growl. "Just trust me for once."

"Last time I trusted you, you turned half the class against our teachers. It almost caused the death of the 2nd and 1st Year students." Ksaan growled.

"Ksaan…" Ipyan grabbed his arms. "I promise on everything I've learned… I _won't_ hurt her."

"Or manipulate her in any way." He added.

She nodded. "Yes, of course."

Ksaan glanced away from her over to me for a second. "Ahmbra?"

I really didn't want to be anywhere near her, but I wanted to see what this was about. I couldn't keep running away from these people. They keep popping into my life, and I doubt I'll be able to walk away even if I wanted to. "I don't have a choice, do I?"

Ipyan nodded at me to follow her. "We need to talk."

I looked up at Sa'Martha. I was hoping she'd somehow get me out of this, but she was too busy filling out the order slips for their meal. "I don't own you. Go have fun…" She said blandly, glancing back at me for a second before returning back to her order slips.

I felt a crushing weight fall down around me as I looked back up at Ipyan. I ended up groaning as I said, "Fine!" I walked out through the swinging doors leading to the dining bar. Ipyan reached down, taking my hand, and proceeded to pull me out of the diner. I tried to figure out exactly what it was that Ipyan wanted. I'm not that strong; I'm not popular… I'm not really anything. I don't know much about school politics, but… I'm basically a nothing. She should have no reason to keep pestering me.

Ipyan led us down behind the diner into a small alleyway. When we got far enough in to not be overheard, she released my hand. She turned to look me in the eye. "First off… I wanted to apologize for last night. Ksaan really let me have it. I know I went too far, but I want you to understand one thing: I don't ever want to hurt you. This was my logic… and… I'm very bad about not thinking of other people before I do this stuff. But… I wanted you to have some fun. I realize you're kind of… not used to having fun, so I figured, if I _ordered_ you to have some fun, you would see what you were missing. Maybe open up a bit… lighten up… something, I don't know!"

Ipyan shrugged as she started pacing around the alley. "But… I never realized that whenever I do what I do that no one can fight it. I'm an Influencer; I can make people _feel_ what I want, _think_ what I want, but I can't make them _do_ anything. What I did was simply make you feel happier, loosen your inhibitions. And it was working! You were having fun! I swear it! But, then I saw this small tear escape your eye as you looked at me… and it reminded me of my junior year. The way everyone looked at me! The same crying tears as they tried to fight what I pushed in their minds! I went too far! And Ksaan fought me every step of the way. And he's right!"

Ipyan turned to look at me. "Look, I'm sorry, all right? I should know better, I really should. And… well… that's all I wanted to say."

We stood there for a few seconds. This was Ipyan? The very manipulative girl that would dominate me to be one of her cronies? Openly apologizing to me? I guess I should explain my own weariness of her. "After what I heard about you from Ksaan, I was terrified to meet you. Ksaan said that you would try to dominate me… turn me into your slave. Once you found out I was one, that is."

Ipyan nodded, and began pacing back and forth again. As she thought of it, she started laughing hysterically, wiping her eyes. "The funny thing is…I would have. I totally would have. If I were a senior… oblivion, even a first year myself, and we were in the same class… I would have made you my slave. I would have made you think of me as your new master. I would have you carry my books, buy my lunches… everything. And you would worship me like the goddess I wanted to be."

Ok… that's not exactly what I expected to hear after she apologized to me. "So… why haven't you done that then? Fear of what Ksaan would do to you?" I've noticed that she won't do anything to anger him. And if she fought him in their third year, that must have meant that Ksaan was able to fight her power and beat her when it came to the school war I've heard about from him on occasion.

She shook her head. "Ksaan has no power over me; I could have owned him just as easily as anyone else in our class. I never did because… I respect him, and… well…" She shrugged. "It doesn't matter. What does matter is this. I already _have_ Influenced you. Remember? I made you party. I've already done it. But, the reason why you're not following me around and whatnot is because I'm graduating. By the time you're a freshman, I'll already be gone. So… I don't need you following me around like a slave. I'll be doing other things in my life; and that's why I have no reason to do anything to you. I wish I could just say 'It's because I'm nice' but I think we all know better than that. Influencing is just what I do. It's who I am… and if given the opportunity… I would Influence _anyone_ for _any_ reason."

And yet… "You never Influenced Ksaan."

She nodded. "I respect him too much. In our first year… he was this… brave kind…" Her tail started flicking. I've noticed that whenever other Khajiits start getting over-emotional. "Even back then, he tried to get me away from the darker path of my powers. Illusion magicka… there are a lot of Illusion users in this town. We're all monsters; I'm almost positive of it. Anything that reaches into the mind and somehow tricks or dominates it…" She shook her head. "It can leave so many problems… mental scars. Like what you've been through. And so many of your friends… like Ashi, Enji… you're going to notice little things about them. Little… dark sides inside them. They have ways of crawling into your head, and that's why I wanted to speak to you in private. You have to promise me… you will never let someone into your head, for any reason."

I instantly thought of Enji, of how she was supposed to crawl into my mind and help fix me. That's what her mother wanted. I wasn't sure about having her inside my head, and now… I hate the idea even more. "How can I prevent that?"

Ipyan smiled. "If someone is trying to get inside your mind… raid it for information… just think of the nastiest… most devastating memory you can drag up. Make them live it… feel it… experience it to every extent you did. I guarantee… any mind raider will want out of your head as fast as they can leave. It's better than focusing on a brick wall… it's better than counting cards. Your past, I can tell… will leave others running for the hills if they ever try crawling inside it. Ksaan used his own to push me out once. One night when…" She looked away. I could see her tail flick again.

As I saw her face contort into a darker expression of sadness, I realized I needed to distract her. "Thanks… for the warning."

Ipyan looked back up at me, smiling. "You're welcome. Listen… My friends and I are going to sit down to some lunch… want to join us? My treat."

I had to think about it, but I guess it would be rude to just turn her down. And it would be rude of me to judge her on what others think of her. She did drag me out here to apologize to me. She seemed a lot nicer than I would have guessed. She even gave me tips on how to push out mind-crawlers too. That's nice. I wish I knew more about what happened between her and Ksaan. I would be sure to ask about it later on when I talk to Ksaan. I ended up shrugging to her question. "Um… sure. Thanks?"

Ipyan smiled wide, taking my hand. "You'll see, we'll be great friends. And without me forcing you to be."

Just as we started to head back out of the alleyway a shadow figure walked into the entrance. The person, whoever he was, stood there cloaked. Even with my Khajiit night vision eyes, I couldn't see his face underneath his raised cowl. And he was just standing there, looking at us, blocking our path.

Ipyan came to a stop, pushing me behind her. "Um… excuse us?"

The man took a step into the alleyway, walking towards us. Part of his front robe brushed open with when a light breeze blew through the alleyway, revealing a sickening blade glistened fresh with blood.

Ipyan's ears folded back. "M'Ahmbra… run!" She pushed me behind her even further. "Ok, let's play a game." She addressed the robed man. "How about you set down the knife?" Her eyes started to glow.

The man continued forward like it wasn't bothering him. He reached into his robes, pulling out the same knife Ipyan ordered him to set down. He held it up, laughing maddeningly as he threw it at us. Ipyan screamed in surprise as she hunched herself over me, pushing us both to the ground. The knife soared harmlessly over us, pausing half way. It just… started floating there.

"Telekinesis." Ipyan replied. "He shouldn't be able to deflect my power though." She looked behind her to see the man rushing up to us. "I think you'll find my gaze irresistible! Bow before your queen!"

The man, uninterrupted, charged right up to us. With a thrust of his palm, Ipyan went flying through the alley, all the way to the other side, where she lied motionlessly.

I tried to turn around to face the man, but I felt something overcome me. A pressure that was holding my body still. That floating knife snapped back to the man; I heard him catch the bloody knife, placing it back in his robes. I felt my body rise off the ground, almost like the pressure was lifting me up. My legs started to work against me, moving without my consent. I started turning around, facing the man. He was standing right over me, looking me in the eye.

He never said a word. He just stood up and started walking away. And… my legs started following him. I tried my best to get my body to refuse moving, but I couldn't do anything against him. I started walking up next to him, my arms pinned to my sides, swinging naturally as if I were actually walking and not held prisoner. My voice was caught in my throat. I couldn't cry out even if I wanted to. I tried to raise up my lightning, even if it was sporadic, but… I couldn't get anything to spark up. What was going on? Was I being cat-napped?

I could tell by the smell that he was Dunmer, even though it was very feint. Was I being stolen again? Was I going to become a slave again? I didn't want to think about it. That couldn't happen. As we exited the alleyway, I thought I would have a chance to walk in front of the diner and somehow motion for Ksaan to come help me, but we took off in the other direction. And we weren't just walking. We were sprinting now. My legs were working in full motion as I barely even stayed on the ground. I know he was using some kind of magicka to keep me afloat between each step. I wasn't even tired, although my muscles were working against my will.

I wanted to talk to him, but I couldn't get anything to come out. We raced past a lot of people, everyone looking at us like we were odd. But in a town where everyone dresses like it's Witches Festival every day, trains to become the strongest mage or whatever they want to be… is watching two people sprinting in the town all that hard to believe. For all they knew, this person could be testing out the long-term effects of using Telekinesis on someone while making them exercise… or something like that. I wouldn't normally bat an eye at this kind of thing.

The ground in front of us suddenly exploded into a full frontal snow storm, sheets of ice forming out of it, building up from the floor. The man wrapped in his robe came to a full stop, me coming to a full stop right next to him.

"Stop in the name of the law!" I heard a girl say, a Bosmer girl. The man snapped his head around, but I was glued to my spot. "I'm with Mage Force, and you've been suspected of Telekinetically transporting this girl illegally. Under Article 3 of Rimmen's Laws, you are facing charges of Body Snatching to the First Degree. This crime comes under the penalty of 3 years of hard labor in the moon sugar plantations. If you resist, further charges will be pressed against you. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of your fellow mages, mages who excel in reading the truth. Lay down any weapons you may have: enchanted or not, release the girl from your hold, and this will be a non-violent arrest. Resist, and you will leave me no choice but to render you immobile."

I felt my lungs tighten up, almost to the point where I couldn't breathe anymore. Oh no… he was going to kill me! I could feel the pressure building in my chest. _Just stay calm._ A voice called into my head. It sounded light, like a child like me said it. It wasn't the girl's voice. This was a Khajiit's, a boy's to be more exact. The girl didn't sound Khajiit. She sounded… Bosmer. No one can ever forget their sailor-ish accent.

The girl behind me screamed, "You have decided to resist arrest. Further charges of attempted murder will be added on. You now face threat of death. Release the girl and we can still do this civilly." There was a slight pause, and I felt my lungs getting ready to explode. I was going to die! For the second time in just two weeks… I was going to die! I just want a normal life!

"You have decided your fate." The girl replied, and the response was immediate. The man was suddenly moving back as the girl appeared out of nowhere, touching him. They were suddenly both gone, and within the same second, I was able to breathe again. I fell to my knees, coughing out some blood. I didn't realize I was biting my own tongue. With everything else going on, I never would have expected it to happen.

A second later, the same girl appeared right in front of me. She was a small girl… younger than me. She was a Bosmer with pointy ears, sharp lilac eyes, and long brown hair. Clipped to a light blue uniform was a red arm sleeve that had an emblem of Rimmen's crest. She reached out with her hand, touching my shoulder. Next thing I knew I was flipping over backwards, crashing on the pavement; the girl was standing next to me, patting me on the back. "Just stay here, citizen. Mage Force is on the case." And just like that, she was gone again.

There was a light step and out of the shadows came yet another uniformed character. He was as young as me, a Khajiit boy. He held himself up tall as he bent down to take my hand. "Are you ok?"

I took his hand, pulling me up. "Thank you, thank you so much." I rushed in for a hug, wrapping him up. "I didn't know what he was going to do with me." I had a lot of suspicions though.

The girl appeared back again, popping up out of nowhere. "I lost him. I thought I put him on the ground hard enough to knock him out… but he just… he's gone." She looked away.

"Did you get a good look at him?" The Khajiit boy asked.

She shook her head. "No, Mvoshi… I didn't."

Mvoshi sighed, his ears drooping back. "I guess we're back to square one then. Send your full report to Zvhar and he'll relay it back to SL Ngil." He looked down at me. "And meanwhile, I'll have a talk with our… new friend."

"Not without me you won't." I heard a new voice calling from my right. Another clouded leopard Cathay, like Ipyan, wearing a light blue uniform walked up to me. She wasn't a child like the other two I've met so far. She looked like a young adult. She had long auburn dreadlocks running down to her tail pulled back in a weird ponytail. She nodded a welcome to me. "I hope you are ok. I am Ja'Ngil. Would you mind if I asked you a few questions?"

I shrugged. "Um… sure."

She bent down to see me eye-to-eye. "Do you know who that man was?"

I shook my head. "No idea. He attacked me and Ipyan in an alleyway. He was Telekinetic… that's what Ipyan said." I tried to think about what else I noticed. "And… he smelled like a Dunmer."

Ja'Ngil looked up at the girl Bosmer. "Go to headquarters, start a profile for all Dunmer Telekinetic users, Level 3 and above." The Bosmer saluted and vanished. Ja'Ngil looked over at Mvoshi. "And I want to see M'Ipyan here immediately. Go fetch her and bring her here."

Mvoshi nodded. "Yes, sergeant." He took off in a sprint. Whatever his magicka was… it definitely wasn't the ability to just suddenly disappear like the girl's.

Ja'Ngil turned to look back down at me. "Any idea why he would have attacked you? He was obviously targeting you."

I shook my head. I had suspicions though. It could because I was a slave. As everyone seems to state… I'm pretty obvious about my past. I can't seem to hide it from anyone. My accent is heavy Dunmer/Redguard. "I don't know, but he had a knife… and it was covered in blood."

Ja'Ngil shook her head. "That wasn't blood. I detected the scent; it was a paralytic poison. Very common amongst those who want to take out a powerful mage… like Ipyan. Violet spotted the downed girl, open wound on her face, fur stained with the poison. She was able to follow you to here." Was Violet the girl that was disappearing and reappearing? I think there's a word for that, but I don't think I've ever heard of it. "You weren't honest with my question though. I asked if you know why he targeted you. You are slave-bred… but I doubt that would be a reason for an abduction like this one. We have lots of freed slaves living in this town, and none of them are targeted the way you were."

She brushed her mouth, probably thinking of reasons why I would have been abducted. I wanted to know why myself. "Tell me… what do you know of the Aldmeri Dominion?"

The Aldmeri Dominion? "Not a lot. I just know they're bad elves that tried to take over the town or something." Anything above that… I don't really know that much. Lydia told me a little about them, of how they were a ruling faction of elves that were trying to take over the continent, but anything above that… I don't know a thing about them. Except that the Dominion could be hunting me… because I'm supposed to be some destined hero or something like that. Oh no… was that what this was? Was that one of their agents trying to steal me? Why? I thought they were trying to kill me!

Ja'Ngil's eyes shot up. "Really?" She grasped my shoulder, gripping it tighter. "The Dominion is after you? Why? Who are you?"

I'm starting to guess her magicka was mind reading. In the back of my mind, I could feel something present there, pushing around. Someone _was_ in my mind! Picking up on my thoughts. I tried my best to push the mind-reader out, doing what Ipyan taught me to do with mind-readers. Think of blood, carnage… something. So, I picked an old memory of me being trapped underneath a sweaty Orc right as he started preparing himself to have his way with me. The mind-reader was suddenly out of my head and I let the memory fade away. I felt gross even forcing myself to remember that.

Ja'Ngil's face hardened as she gripped my shoulder tighter. "Listen to me, girl. I'm with Mage Force. I'm one of the good guys. If the Dominion is after you, I need to know _why_!"

I shook my head. "I don't know!" I tried to push myself out of her arms. The end result was my lightning finally snapping into action. I accidentally launched a thick beam of lightning at her, shocking her right off me. I hit her hard enough to knock her off her feet. I took that as my chance to run off in the opposite direction. I didn't get far. Ipyan was right in front of me, sprinting up to meet me. Mvoshi was right behind her.

"M'Ahmbra!" Ipyan screamed. "You're ok!" She crashed into me, hugging me close. Her friends were right behind her.

Ksaan was up next, bending down to see me. " _Are_ you ok? He didn't hurt you, did he?" He reached down, grabbing my chin, lifting it up to see the blood trickling down my chin fur. "He made you bite your tongue, didn't he?"

I had already forgotten about that. There was little pain from my tongue. If I did bite it… I didn't bite it hard enough. "I'm fine." I managed to say without spitting blood out everywhere.

Ksaan cursed to himself. "Cesk! I was told to watch you! And… _this_ happens." He looked up at the approaching Ja'Ngil. He stood right up. "Professor?" He nodded to her in respect.

She nodded back at him. "Ma'Ksaan. Your friend was abducted by a Dunmer Telekinetic. According to our reports, the mage was dressed like a known Dominion agent within town. And he chose your friend here. Now… _she_ knows why he's after her, but she's resisting my questions and blocking Zvhar's telepathy with memories of her slave life, so I will have to question you. You said you were told to _watch her_. Why? Who is she?" She pointed down at me.

Ksaan's ears folded back. "Dra'Vio believes she may be the Mythical Ballista. And according to her, the Dominion already knows about her."

Ja'Ngil's tail flicked excitedly, her ears perking straight up. "Her?" She pointed at me. "But… why keep her alive? The Dominion would want to take this opportunity to kill her, not abduct her."

Ksaan shrugged. "I don't know why. Maybe is wasn't the Dominion."

She growled. "If that's true… we have another problem in this town." She started pacing around the open street, shaking her head at whatever it was she was thinking. "If the Dominion is planning on abducting her… we must take preventive measures. The Dominion will try this again… and…" I could see the plan already forming in her eyes. "And… it will draw out their members. Even if the lackeys are the only active agents, it would allow us to cripple the Dominion's cell if we continually manage to take down any assailants they send. But… if we were to do that, we would need the girl to stay out in the open… right where the Dominion could see her, and pursue her."

Ksaan glanced down at me before growling. "Are you suggesting we use Ahmbra as _bait_?"

Ja'Ngil nodded. "She would be watched, protected. The Dominion has no idea that we would be watching her."

Hiarria shook her head. "Teach… I get it, but…" She scratched her head in confusion. "wouldn't the leaders figure it out by the first arrest, or if not the second? I mean, Mage Force is pretty fast responding, but if they wanted M'Ahmbra dead… or cat-napped, it wouldn't take much. Just another teleporter like Violet and then… poof. Gone."

Ipyan scratched at her closing wound. "And that guy was prepared. He must have been stalking her for a while. He got us when we were alone in an alleyway. And he could escape my Influence."

Ja'Ngil waved her hand dismissively. "No, I won't hear of any excuses. This is the case: we either have a kitten snatcher on our hands… one that will likely try to take M'Ahmbra again, slave traders looking for an ex-slave to use as fresh labor, an active and dangerous Dominion cell taking out its competition… or likely a few other cases. Either way, one thing is for certain: She was targeted today. Someone, for some reason, wants her. Either alive or dead. Either way, it doesn't matter. Mage Force will not tolerate that behavior. Now, M'Ahmbra can either wait this out sitting in a protective cell until we catch this criminal, very possible we won't get far; house arrest, same deal though; or she can go about her life with a dedicated staff of trained protectors watching her back at a distance 24 hours a day." She looked down at me. "And which of those three options appeal the most to you? Living in a cell… being stuck at home all day… or living your life with some eyes on your back?"

The way she put it, I knew which one she wanted me to say. And I'm not going to go and hide in my house. I hate that option. It would be like living in a cage. No way to escape even if I wanted to. And I had training to do. I sighed, saying, "I would prefer to keep living my life."

Ja'Ngil smiled through her white facial fur, glaring back up at Ksaan. "See, Ma'Ksaan? Your friend is smart. She understands the value of freedom."

Ksaan growled. "Or you could just go on protecting the town and leave her alone."

Her eyebrows shot up. "Well…" She shrugged. "I suppose we could. We could just ignore the fact that a terrorist cell of elves operating in this town is targeting a little…" She glanced down at me. "How old are you?"

"11." I said.

"a little 11-year-old girl, but then… what kind of protection force would we be? Certainly you don't expect us to hang out on the corners of the streets watching carriages pass by, hoping to see them speeding or making illegal left turns so we can issue them tickets, do you?"

Loshin nudged Ksaan on the shoulder. "Dude… she has a point. I mean… Dra'Vio said that Ahmbra was going to be attacked soon. If the Dominion wanted to end this privately… they didn't get the chance. And now… Mage Force is involved. So… the next attack won't be so subtle. Extra eyes and protection would be beneficial now."

Ksaan growled even deeper, closing his eyes and clenching his fists. He finally snapped his eyes open, saying, "Fine! As her _official_ protector, I will let you help me protect her."

Ja'Ngil smiled thickly. "Now we're getting somewhere." She paused, looking forward, her eyes obviously focused on some mental task.

A second later, that girl from earlier popped up again out of nowhere, landing just inches away from Ja'Ngil. "You summoned me?"

Ja'Ngil nodded. "Congratulations, Violet. With your sharp wood elf eyes, sensitive nose, fast moving Teleportation skills, and acute hearing… you will keep an eye on M'Ahmbra. Your shift will four hours long every day until further notice. With there being six squads dedicated to finding the Dominion cell, I guess we'll all contribute one member per squad to this in a four-hour shift cycle."

Violet nodded. "Ok, ma'am." She glanced at me. "But… why is the Dominion after her?"

Ja'Ngil shook her head. "I'm sorry, that's Need-to-Know. Only staff members… and certain ones at that, need to know."

Violet glanced down for a few seconds before looking back up at me. "Well then…" She nodded to me. "I'll be seeing you around." And before I could say anything, she was suddenly gone.

Ja'Ngil smiled down at me, nodding a farewell. "It was nice meeting you… M'Ahmbra. I will be keeping a close personal eye on you from now on." She turned around, crossing her arms as she started walking away.

I looked up at Ksaan. "So… is the Dominion cell really that big a threat here?"

Ksaan nodded. "Yes."

Loshin shook his head. "If they even exist."

"They exist." Ksaan said. "They killed my aunt. I was there. I watched it happen." Ksaan looked off in the distance, a low growl forming in his throat. "And Ja'Ngil only returned from Torval because of it. Aunt Clara was her favorite teacher… and as soon as she found out, she returned here and started working for Mage Force. I met her on my first year in Mage Force during my second year. I convinced her to become a teacher. It made a great cover for moving around the town; and it would let her get closer to the Dominion if they ever attacked another teacher. She's obsessed with finding them… and the more I think of it… I should be too."

I never knew his aunt was dead. I only heard about her in passing conversations between Ksaan and his friends. They mentioned how she was a fourth-year teacher and how she was the strongest mage in the whole school, even stronger than Ro'Prin. I never heard that she was dead; I just assumed she moved out of the town or something, or lived nearby. I can't believe he had to live through something like that. Seeing his aunt killed right in front of him. I wonder how I would have reacted if I ever saw someone I loved killed right in front of me. I remembered when Lydia destroyed my old slave camp… but all I felt was fear that I was next. No love for anyone inside the camp… with the exception of a few other slaves that helped look over me. Umbra… I was there for that. I was there when he was killed. He tried to free us, but… because he was trying so hard to keep us safe, he was killed in the confusion. I remember the punishment I had that night. I learned really quick what happens to the victims of failed rescues. I still have the scars on my back too.

I guess Ksaan and I were projecting some horrible auras because Hiarria was clapping her hands, madly, screaming, "Ok, we've been standing here _way_ too long. Let's go eat some lunch! And get some moon ice for desert!" Moon ice? That seemed to perk everyone's ears up.

Eanrian nodded. "Want to share a hot fudge sundae?"

Hiarria nodded, intertwining her tail with his. "You know it, purr."

Ipyan reached down, picking Ksaan up by his arm. "Come on, Ksaan… we can't leave you behind either." She glanced at me. "Or you. I still owe you a meal." A meal? I felt my stomach rumble. Yeah… I'm pretty hungry. Being cat-napped will do that to you.

* * *

 **Cearbhail:**

 _For this chapter, I will be presenting a non-spoiler fact for the character Mvoshi. Mvoshi is the son of Ro'Prin. He's the same age as Ahmbra, birthday is 4e 194, 11/20. His personal magicka is the same ability Shaun Spencer has in Psych. While his goes a little further. He can magickally see little details others would miss, and he's able to read the past of these various little clues, using what's around him, even the scent of air, to form a perfect visual image of what took place in his head. He uses this in Mage Force to investigate crime scenes. He spent most of his childhood standing next to his mother while she worked on Mage Force, back when she was just a second-year teacher and worked part time in Mage Force, just like Ja'Ngil does now. He's an apathetic character that has no real personal feelings for anyone. Everything he thinks and does is always linked to his reasoning magicka, down to knowing exactly how Ahmbra was as soon as he met her. He can also use his magicka to find people's weaknesses in fights, often predicting the course of the fight actions ahead, even before the fight begins, just by using the subtle clues exploited in the eyes of his opponents. This makes him a very dangerous opponent when he is running his own division when he becomes captain of Mage Force._


	9. Here at the Shrine

**Cearbhail:**

 _It's been a while, but I really wanted to focus on other stories that frankly get more attention than this one. This story is my personal project, with high hopes. And whether or not this actually ever gets read or as much attention as Chronicles of Lydia, eh... I'm just happy I got this whole world built up. Every character in the academy now has a background, and soon I'm working on the town itself, the districts, the other academies... families. For a while, I've had it so that Ahmbra has a little brother. He'll be showing up sometime after the events of Changing Fates, like... way after. But don't worry, the events of Changing Fates will still occur in this story, but once the other stories are done, these arcs (years) will pass by pretty quickly. I wager this story will be around 250 chapters long? Perhaps? I'm not sure on when the story will actually stop, or if the story will somehow continue in Untold Tales as small things that happen around in Rimmen. Maybe a whole new story called Tales of Rimmen? Something like that, I'm sure. This will be a very long story otherwise. Four years of Ahmbra studying at Rimmen? We're on chapter nine, and we're not even to her training seriously yet. I'm open to suggestions, as always.  
_

 _Anyway..._

 _=^^= Enjoy..._

* * *

 _Dear diary,_

 _4e 206, 7th Second Seed. Also known as Second Planting. It's my first day of training with Ksaan. He's been too busy in his classes to actually come over and help me with training, so I've been setting up my room as well as my 'required' meditation room, which is nothing more than the corner of my room. Anyway, I'm kind of excited that Ksaan has the day off of classes today and tomorrow. He's going to be helping me train. The assigned guard that's been following me around everywhere aren't all that helpful actually. Violet's the only one that actually appears next to me once in a while. She has this thing with… I don't know… tapping my shoulder and then vanishing when I look over it. She's weird, but kind of nice, I guess. Everyone else assigned to guard me don't really interact with me. Only Mvoshi. He just… walks into my room without being invited, insults my choices… and then profiles me before leaving. Oh… and he insults my fashion choices._

 _So, Second Planting is some kind of holiday? I guess it's a day where you plant your second row of crops but… you also remember the good days? Or something like that? I don't really know. It's supposed to be a day for reflection or something like that. Giving thanks to people that helped us. I talked to Mom about it, and… she only shrugged, saying that her friends and she always just sat around Lydia's house and drank stolen mead. Everyone else was usually at the temple or drinking in the inn. I guess Ksaan will be able to tell me what people around here do on this holiday._

 _Ahmbra Dragonis._

 _…_

So, the past few days have been pretty relaxing. After getting abducted and almost killed by some crazy Dunmer Dominion agent person… I've been stuck at home. Not house arrest or anything like that… but… I'm kind of scared to just leave my room. I'm kind of scared to stay in my room also. I mean… whoever is after me knew I was at Moon's Delights. And that means that… whoever is after me might know I live here too. So, there was a good chance that one night I could go to bed and not wake up. That's a scary thing. I hate that I have to think of it… but whenever I put my head down on my pillow, it's the first thing to pop into my mind. And the last one to leave.

So, waking up today was the same as any morning. I'd open my eyes and there would be someone sitting on my bed, eating a bagel with cream cheese spread across it. The small Bosmer girl with long brown hair: Violet. She was one of the Mage Force officers that had to watch over me every day she was on duty. She never even bothered to ask me to enter my room, let alone jump onto my bed while I'm sleeping. The first time she did it, I jumped out of my bed straight to the ceiling, screaming in bloody murder. I thought she was a Dominion agent coming to kill me or something like that. She had to reassure me for a few minutes that she wasn't going to kill me, and that watching me closely was easier for her to deal with than a long-range watch with binoculars. Ever since then… she's been pretty much by my side. She has the early morning shift, so she's usually the first one I see when I wake up. The other Mage Force officers tend to stick to themselves when watching over me. I'm pretty ok with that.

"You're finally awake." Violet said in-between bites. "I was starting to get bored." She looked down at me, almost smiling. "You were talking in your sleep again."

I rubbed my eyes as I sat up. I turned to my diary, opening it up. "Today's what day again?" I asked her as I picked up my quill.

She shrugged. "7th of Second Seed. It's Second Planting today, so… technically there is no Mage Force today. We're all off duty."

I glanced at her, surprised to see her out of uniform for once. She normally wore a blue shirt with a blue skirt, each one tailored for battlemage combat. Today she was wearing a pair of shorts and a simple top. Her hair wasn't tied back in twintails either. Her hair was actually just unbound. She looked relaxed. More relaxed than I usually see her.

I took a few seconds to write my diary entry… something I should probably do at night after a day's events… and yet… I still do it first thing in the morning. Why? I shrugged it off as I closed my diary and looked up at Violet. "So… if you're off today… why are you here?"

She glanced down at me, and then looked back at her bagel. "You have food."

Well, I couldn't say I was surprised. Every time I wake up, she usually already eaten my breakfast. She won't eat fruit though, so most of my breakfast goes uninterrupted, but any pancakes or waffles, let alone bagels are usually in her mouth whenever I open my eyes. "So, you just came over here and thought… hey, free breakfast?"

She nodded through a stuffed face. She mumbled something before swallowing my food, then letting herself fall backwards on my bed, laying her head on my covered legs. "Your food's the best. Reminds me of that little bakery down in the waterfront district… Moon's something."

"Moon's Delights. My mom works there." I answered for her.

Violet glanced up at me, deadpanned expression as she scanned me. "That makes sense. So… you planning on just staying in bed all day? Or are you actually planning on doing something fun?"

I pulled my cover up, keeping her from seeing me in my pajamas. Don't know why I bother though; with how many times she's seem me bolt out of this bed from her scaring me awake, I'm sure she knows exactly what I wear to sleep by now. "Umm. Could you leave? Like you said… you're not on duty today. You don't _have_ to be here."

She slowly blinked her eyes, rolling them as she stood up. "Yeah, I don't have to be here… except I do." She glanced back at me as she brushed any wrinkles out of her shirt. "Today Mage Force is out… and that means…" She glanced at me, rolling her hands around in a circle as she tried to get me to connect the dots to whatever it was she was thinking. "If the Dominion was planning anything against you, today's the day. Sergeant Ja'Ngil seems to think it's 'necessary'" She made air quotations, "to have someone to watch over you today. So… instead of the normal four hour shift I have with you… I… I have to spend all day with you." She shrugged. "Not completely exciting, and to be honest, I really don't have anything else better to do… and you are pretty fun…" She looked over at me, grinning as she jumped back onto my bed. "So, I don't mind watching you today." She glared at me with her bright lilac eyes. "So… what are we going to do today, oh _Miss Mythical Ballista_?" She grinned at calling me my prophesied moniker.

I felt the fur on my back shoot up. "And… how did you learn that?" Violet was an elf… a person who should not know about my prophecy. "That should be classified information." I do not want her knowing something like that. What if she told anyone in the Dominion? What if she was _in_ the Dominion?

Violet nodded. "And it is… to anyone outside our little circle. But, I'm lucky, I get to protect the Dominion's secret enemy. How _exciting_." She grinned, glancing at me. "Though, to be honest… I'm surprised _you're_ the _Ballista_. I wasn't expecting a Suthay-raht, but I guess it makes sense." Suthay-raht? Umm… I'm Cathay. She obviously needs to study our biology before speculating on my breed. "Suthay-raht are more magically inclined than Cathay… or so the mythos go." Violet grinned as she started climbing over top of me, pinning me to my bed. I started calling up my lightning, but I was still pretty… new to using it, and I was scared. I wasn't able to draw anything up, and my rising fear was only making it harder. "Or… are you asking because you're afraid of me? Because I'm _Bosmer_? _An elf_ … someone that would support the Dominion? Maybe… I'm not here on business today… Maybe now that Sergeant Ja'Ngil is off duty… that means I can be here incognito… cat-nap you and take you to my boss… How did you think I found you so quickly the last time?" She sat herself down right of top of me, pulling out a pair of ability-nullifying braces. "Why, wouldn't it be simple to get close to you if I got stupid Ja'Ngil to let me watch you… and then when no one is suspecting…" She bent down, clasping my hands together. "Capture you? And then deliver you to the Dominion? Right when no one is suspecting a thing?" She grinned at me, tightening the braces on my hands. All magicka I had was suddenly Silenced. And I was pinned underneath her. She had me rolled up in my bed cover. Great… I'm captured, again.

I sat there, completely dumbfounded. Violet's face held impassively for a few seconds before she cracked up, smiling, and then falling off of me in a laughing fit. She almost hit the floor, but then she teleported, teleporting right back onto my bed, crashing right next to me, still laughing in a fit. I almost screamed and tried to roll out of my bed when she suddenly crashed right next to me. "You should have seen the look on your face!" She pointed at me, still chortling.

My heart was still pounding away, my breath rampant at the thought that Violet had been serious for a second. "Yeah… good joke, hehe…" I tried my best to laugh it off, but I didn't feel any better about it. And now… I'm awake. And I need to use the bathroom.

Violet shrugged it off, reaching over to take the braces off my arms. "Nah, I don't care for the Dominion. They did a lot damage in Valenwood… before I was born but… my parents told me what they had to live through as children. The stories their parents told them… of how the Dominion came in and just… destroyed their whole system. It wasn't pretty, from what I was told. And… I like Rimmen. If the Dominion is planning on doing the same thing here…" Violet shook her head. "I'd gladly give my life to protect any weapon that can be used against the Dominion, even if that weapon is…" She looked back at me, looking me up and down. "you."

"So… I'm just a weapon then?" I'm just her special weapon against the Dominion? I guess I shouldn't be surprised. She hardly knows me; why would she really care about me otherwise?

She shook her head. "Not really, but that does make you _very_ important to me. When I found out you were this… legacy in the making, I couldn't believe it. I mean… you can't beat me in a sparring match, probably never will, and yet, you're going to save Rimmen someday?" She chuckled at the thought. "But, it's a cool thing to think about. I'm the town's savior's personal best friend. I do need to share some vital intelligence with you… something you need to know about your academy, my academy… and the Dominion Cell in the town; how it all links together. Sergeant Ja'Ngil doesn't want me to tell you, but I think… Wait… someone's here." And just like that, she was gone in a teleportation.

I started struggling to pull the covers off me when I heard footsteps coming up my room's balcony staircase. I saw Kharan slowly climbing the stairs carrying a small basket filled with bottles of… I'm guessing moon milk, and wrapped fruit salads. He saw me curled up in my bed, waved to me, and then… Violet appeared behind him. She touched him on the shoulder and both of them quickly disappeared, reappearing inside my room. Kharan was immediately teleported/flipped onto my floor, his basket crashing right next to him; Violet was standing on top of Kharan's throat, pressing down onto it. "What do you want?!" Violet screamed at Kharan.

Kharan struggled against Violet, but he hissed, vanishing from Violet's foot with a teleportation of his own. He reappeared a second later, smacking his entire body into my glass balcony door. There was a loud _thud_ as he hit the window and Kharan fell back to the floor, completely knocked out.

Violet looked at the unconscious Kharan. "Wow… he can teleport."

I shook my head. "Not really. He kind of… does his own thing."

She looked back at me. "Wait? You know him?"

I nodded. "He's my friend."

Violet frowned. "Oops. Great… incident report on my day off. Just what I need." She pointed at me, saying, "You didn't see anything. And… now you have to help me bury the body." She vanished in a teleport, leaving me completely alone with a knocked out Kharan. I was about to climb out of bed when she suddenly reappeared carrying a shovel, a trash bag, and a few alchemical acids. "Ok… I have everything we need to dispose the body."

Kharan grumbled in pain, reaching for his head as he groggily started waking up.

Violet glanced down at him before rolling her eyes. "Man… I never get to have any fun on my days off…"

Kharan sat up, still rubbing his forehead. "Jeez… what happened?"

Violet slammed the shovel down on top of his head, knocking him out a second time. "There… now he should be dead." Kharan jolted a second before falling right back down to the floor. Violet quickly turned back to her trash bag, unfolding it… or trying to anyway. She started trying to pull it apart but then she turned the bag around, trying to open it on the other side. "Jeez… which side was it that opens? I can never remember." She continued to fuss with that as Kharan started grumbling, reaching up to his head again. She glanced down at him, completely astonished. "Jeez… you just don't know when to quit, do you?"

Kharan opened his eyes, rolling away before anything else could happen to him. "Ahmbra!" He cried through his half-closed eyes. "Are you ok?"

I nodded from my bed, hugging my covers even tighter to me. "I'm… here. Don't mind Violet, she's…" My friend? Not really… but I couldn't just call her my body guard. That would raise questions. "my study partner." That should be convincing. "And… I'm not dressed so… you know… don't look at me."

One glance at me in my bed had him covering his eyes. "Sorry, didn't know you were still in bed."

Violet growled in her own way, groaning at Kharan as she set her shovel down. "What are you doing here anyway? We're kind of doing a thing here."

Kharan pointed to the basket of things he brought up. "It's Second Planting. I thought Ahmbra would like a small lunch. So, I came here with-"

Violet arched her eyes. "Wait…" She looked at me and then back down to Kharan. "Are you two _dating_ or something?"

Kharan and I both shook our heads. "What?" I screamed.

"No!" Kharan screamed.

Violet covered her ears at our high-pitched protests. "Jeez, quiet you two. You do know that elves have sensitive ears too, right?"

She looked back at the two of us, only rolling her eyes. "Well, anyway… I'm here with Ahmbra and we're _studying_ …" She looked down at Kharan. "you're…" She shrugged. " _not_ her purrfriend, nor are you here to _study_ so…" She rubbed her head. "I think you need to leave."

Kharan looked up at me for clarification. "Should I go?"

I didn't really want _anyone_ to be here, but I did not want to be left alone here with just Violet. She's… weird. Anyway, Ksaan should be coming over shortly. "Well, Ksaan is coming over soon, and he's going to be helping me train. So, unless you feel like training too…"

Kharan's ears perked up. "Train? I could use more time to do that. Ipyan is doing something with Loshin today so… she can't help me. You think Ksaan will?"

Violet sighed, shrugging. "Fine, I see where this is going." She collected up her shovel and her trash bag. "We'll _study_ later, Ahmbra, when we can be alone. You still need to learn that _vital_ chapter I was trying to tell you about." With that, Violet vanished into her teleport.

Kharan rubbed the top of his head, no doubt from the smack from the shovel. "What vital chapter? Do we need to read books or something?"

I shook my head. "Um… it's history. I'm slave-born, remember? I don't know a lot of things. She's catching me up on normally-known things."

Kharan nodded. "Ok, that makes sense. Sorry… I never met a slave-born before, so I don't really know much about them. Anyway…"

"You mind turning around and closing your eyes?" I interrupted him. "I really want to get changed before Ksaan shows up."

Kharan nodded, spinning around and physically covering his eyes. "Is this fine?"

"Yup…" I said as I gently stepped out of my bed, keeping my cover wrapped around me. "Just stay like that for a few minutes." I rushed to my dresser and grabbed whatever I could find and rushed to the bathroom to get showered and changed.

…

I took a quick shower, dressing myself in some workout clothes, and walked out of the bathroom. Kharan was still sitting facing the balcony, his eyes covered, and Ksaan was sitting right next to him, doing the exact same thing. Huh… I'm guessing Kharan told him to do that until I said to stop. Oh well, time to get this day started. "Ok, I'm dressed."

Both Ksaan and Kharan turned around, looking at me. Kharan was a bit more cautious about it though, peeking through his fingers before removing his hands. "Good morning, Ahmbra." Kharan said to me with a nod.

Ksaan glanced down at him before looking back up at me. "Ok, so I guess I'm training both of you then?" He nodded. "Ok. But first thing's first. In order for you two to unlock your inner magicka, you must do what?"

"Meditate." Kharan replied.

Ksaan nodded. "Yes. And today is Second Planting which means…"

"We have a lot of meditating to do today." Kharan replied with a sigh.

Ksaan nodded. "Not for too long. It's more like… honoring the dead. Just a few minutes." He nodded to me, "So, while you two do your meditation… I'll be outside paying respects to my Aunt Clara… and my mom. Again." He stood up, bowing to me as he stepped outside onto my balcony. He pulled out a small crystal ball, putting in a frequency. "Nisha? Yeah… it's me. Want to talk for a second?" He walked away, going to his conversation with Nisha… which I know is his sister.

I looked back at Kharan. "So… we honor the dead?"

He shrugged. "Yes and no. Second Planting is about replanting our crops. But, that's only to farmers. To the rest of us… it has a spiritual sense. People helped plant our gardens, our farms… our soul. So, we take today to remember those people, to thank them for tending our gardens, our souls. The people that helped us grow into who we've become. And for some of us… those people aren't around anymore. Those people spend the days… remembering the dead. Honoring our farmers."

I thought of Umbra, the kind Orc that watched over me growing up in the slave camp. He wouldn't do anything to help save me from the slavers, but he did occupy a lot of my time so that other people couldn't use me. Almost every day up until his death, he would occupy a single room with several of us, as much as he could afford. He wouldn't do anything to us… but he would teach us things. He would often bring books, teach us martial arts… and tried to help us gain some value for who we were. He died one day in the camp when a mercenary recognized him. The Orc was really old… but he fought as hard as he could. He died… but he died protecting one of my friends. The mercenary played dirty, used my younger brother against him. Umbra saved my brother, but died in the process. That was about two years ago. And he's always been my idol, more or less.

I looked to my little meditation set up in the corner of my room. It was nothing more than a little pillow that I sat on top of. It only seemed fitting that I do something with it. I looked for my bag of wonders: a small bag that somehow could keep a lot of stuff inside it. I never really cared to know why; I just know that it works. I saw it sitting on top of my dresser. I quickly ran for it, grabbed it, and then ran over to my little meditation corner. Kharan watched me as I started opening it up.

"What are you-" He started to ask before he saw me push my arm deep inside the small hip pouch. "What the-" He exclaimed as my arm partially disappeared into the small bag. I felt the armor left behind by Umbra deep in the bag, and once I had a nice grip on it, I yanked the armor out. The mouth of the bag stretched out considerably as I yanked the massive ebony armor out of the small hip pouch, drawing a confused scream from Kharan. "Wha- How?" His eyes went wide as I placed the armor down, shoving my arm into the bag again. I started drawing out the rest of the armor pieces, each of them some kind of enchanted ebony armor. The last thing I pulled out was a massive sword easily twice as wide and long as me. It was a 'berserker' sword or something like that. It was called Umbra… what Umbra named himself after. It was a pure ebony blade stained with years and years of blood. I could almost see the past through the blade's shiny crystal rock embedded in the hilt.

I could barely lift the sword for more than a second before it came crashing down on top of me. "Kharan!" I called out as the sword fell on top of me.

"Umm… right…" He ran up to me, practically throwing himself under the thing, grabbing onto the handle. The blade pretty much threw the two of us to the ground, but Kharan was able to move the sharp sides away from us before it slammed us both to the ground, both pinned under the thing. "Wow…" He managed to squeak out a breath. "This thing is… really heavy."

"Yeah, it is." I grunted out. "And you're not helping!" He was right on top of me, squishing me with not only the sword's weight but his own as well.

Kharan pressed his hands against the sword, trying his best to push it off us. The sword started glowing, and Kharan's arms, I swear, bulged out to twice their size. Kharan effortlessly pushed it off, not only that but lifting it up. "Wow…" He breathed out, his eyes fixed on the sword. "This sword…" He started smirking madly before he let it go, falling to the floor. He grabbed his head, and the same arm that lifted up the sword started shrinking back down to its normal size.

"Kharan?" I asked as I started picking myself off the ground. "What was that?"

He shook his head. "Just… be quiet for a second." He sat down, grabbing his head. "That was… wow." I just sat there while he sat there, rubbing his eyes, groaning.

"I'm going to… set up my armor now." I replied to him as I turned my attention back to the ebony armor. What was going on? I've seen Kharan display strange magicka from everyone in the camp… but to do something like that? Was that a magicka he obtained earlier? Or… I glanced to Umbra. Did the sword do that to him? It did glow right as his arms started doubling in size. Umbra told me how his sword chose him… of how it changed him. Glancing at Kharan… was he becoming the next Umbra? Umbra told me how the sword claims its wielders, corrupts their souls and uses them to accomplish its world-destroying mission, to kill as many people as possible. Most wielders use the sword to kill all the bad things in the world… but would the sword have more pull over Kharan? I couldn't guess.

I tried to keep my mind off it as I started setting up the armor next to my meditation pillow. I sat the pieces up as if someone was wearing it, sitting in seiza. By the time I was done, I almost could see Umbra sitting in front of me again, giving me advice on how to better myself as a person. How to become more than just a slave. I resisted the urge to hug the armor, looking back to Kharan. He was sitting there, staring at the sword, his tail flicking occasionally. "Um…" I really hated to ask him this. "Can you do me a favor?"

He looked over to me. "Sure. What?"

I gestured to the sword. "Can you put that sword behind the armor I set up?"

His eyes betrayed his fear, his tail flicking straight up. He glanced back to the sword, and I could see his hand trembling as he reached down to the sword. He swallowed hard, holding his breath as he reached down, taking the sword by the hilt. For a second, I thought that it was just a weird fluke, but the sword's crystal started glowing, and I saw the change in Kharan's eyes. They flashed red for a second, his muscles doubling in size, his chest expanding out dramatically. He lifted the sword up with ease, standing up. And then… he just stood there, staring at the sword's edge, admiring the sharp blade.

"Um…" I waved my hands to Kharan. I wanted to know he was still in there somewhere. "Kharan?" When I didn't get a reply from him, I thought I'd try the other name. "Umbra?"

He glanced at me immediately, his red eyes glaring at me. When he saw me, his sharp face softened. "You…"

I nodded. "Yes… it's me, your friend, Ahmbra. Can you please just place the sword down behind the armor like I asked?" Please just be normal; please just be normal.

Kharan glanced from me to the armor. His face almost cracked, and I thought I saw a small tear rolling down his eyes. "I see…" He nodded to me. "Yes, of course." He placed the back of the sword on his shoulder and he slowly made his way up to the armor. He glanced around my room, nodding as he made his way to my balcony. He paused there, his tail dancing around as he stared out the window. He finally looked back at me, and actually… scanned me with his eyes. He smirked sadly as he walked over to the shrine I had set up. "I…" Kharan shook his head. He walked behind it, gently setting the sword down with the tip facing up. "This should keep it propped up; it shouldn't fall unless a nirnquake hits it."

"Um… you told me Rimmen doesn't have nirnquakes." Kharan told me that during camp.

"Rimmen?" Kharan echoed as he glanced over his shoulder. "Yes… Rimmen. Home to the greatest of mages in Elsweyr. Of course." He stood there for a few seconds, still staring at me. "Tell me Ahmbra…" He mused at the say of my name, "Are you happy here?"

That was a… very odd question. "Um… yes?"

"Are you…"

He was interrupted by Ksaan as he walked back into the room. "Well, Nisha's back in Winterhold with Lydia." He stopped as he saw Kharan standing behind my armor, his hand still fastened on Umbra's hilt.

"Who are you?" Ksaan asked as he stepped in front of me. "Release Kharan!"

What? What was going on?

Kharan only smirked. "Tell me something first. Is Ahmbra happy?"

Ksaan hissed. His tail flicked, and both he and Kharan had a small staring contest. Finally, Ksaan lowered his guard. "Ahmbra, if Kharan asks you any questions… don't answer them."

"What, why?" My eyes flicked from Ksaan to Kharan. What the heck was going on here? It was almost like Kharan was possessed, as I suspected… by so far, whatever has possessed Kharan was not malevolent. I finally decided to ask the sword itself. "Why do you care, Umbra?"

Kharan smiled sadly at hearing me call him that. "Are you happy?"

I shrugged. "I guess? Yes! I'm here in Rimmen; I have a loving family; I'm going to be studying at the Firedrake Academy… so far, it's been great. It will be a lot _less_ happy if something happens to my friend you're currently possessing."

Kharan nodded. "That's all I wanted to know. Goodbye." He released the sword, and Kharan jumped back from the sword, grabbing his head. He stumbled back, but Ksaan was already there, catching him.

"Take it easy… you were possessed." Ksaan said as he helped Kharan down.

Kharan only responded by rubbing his eyes and groaning. "Yes and no… once I knew what he wanted… I let him take over. It was only fair. He just wanted to say goodbye." He looked at me. "Ahmbra… that was your old friend, Umbra. The one that died saving you."

What? Oh… well… I wished I knew that to begin with. I would have been a lot more cordial. We could have had a nice conversation, but if it would have costed Kharan his sanity… I guess this was for the best.

Kharan looked up at me, nodding. "He was very happy… seeing you free… hearing you're here… studying… making friends. You have a family. That's all he ever wanted for you, for all of them. All the slaves. He's ready to accept his fate, to live inside the sword as part of the collective of Umbra." So… he was inside the sword? At least he'll be with me then. And now… I know that.

* * *

 **Cearbhail:**

 _For this chapter, I will be presenting the notes I used to create Loshin as a character. Since he's graduating soon and about to become a less prominent character, I figure even the smallest bit of spoiler about him won't break anything. Enjoy._

Loshin is the son of some rich moon milk producers. They own their own moon sugar plantation as well as a pub for developing all the moon milk they sell to the town. Loshin is very wealthy and can do whatever with his money he wants… but he's unable to buy himself powers beyond what he already has. Loshin is a Level 4 healer, using his ability to use another's energy to spike helpful changes in their abilities. As such… he's a support magicka user. He can use his knowledge of the energy network inside one's body to stimulate healing, speed, growth, anything. His fingers are literal magic on the body. He wants to become a masseuse for the school upon graduation, as a kind of healing nurse for the students that return from studying. He becomes one of the best healers besides the first year teacher Ko'Tsija. He takes up the title Jo'Loshin, a title reserved for healers and mages. He ends up married to Ipyan and having two sons with her.


	10. Love-ning

**Cearbhail:**

 _This will be a shorter chapter, perhaps. I wanted to do a much longer one, but I realized halfway through that... it's too early for a chapter quite like the one I was planning. Perhaps a few chapters from now. I need to take this slow. I continually rush my stories and end up with these... over the top stuff that I originally don't plan for... and it ruins the whole story I planned. Not this time. No!  
_

 _Anyway..._

 _=^^= Enjoy..._

* * *

 _Dear diary,_

 _Earlier this morning, Kharan stopped by my room. He wanted to spend Second Planting together. He doesn't really have a family here in Rimmen with him, so he's all alone and stuff. He thought it would be nice if he spent the day in my house, eating with us. He even brought some of his food from his dorm room with him. He was sneak-attacked by Violet… a Mage Force Bosmer girl. After Violet learned that Kharan was my friend, she teleported away. Before Kharan showed up, Violet told me that she knew something about the Dominion and needed to share its information with me. She'll probably be back later tonight once everyone is gone. I know she's still watching me; I can see her teleporting across rooftops on the other side of the large beach. Sometimes she enters my room, steals a roll or something, and then teleports away. I wish she'd stop taking my food._

 _So, if the whole thing with Violet knowing about the Dominion wasn't something, how about this? I pulled Umbra out of my bag of wonders, which almost crushed me when I did. Kharan pretty much saved my life, pushing the sword away from me before I was cut in half. When he did… his Absorption Magick or whatever it's called seemed to latch onto Umbra the sword. His muscles bulged out, his eyes turned red, and he took on the personality and memories of my old protector… Umbra, the one that helped keep my slave family safe… well safer. Umbra was a lot of things, but… he never physically tried to free us. I wish I knew why though. I always wanted to ask him why he would spend money to sit down with us… talk to us… teach us things… but never actually free us. He had the sword, he had the training… he had the talent, the motives, the everything! He could have freed us with a single wave of his blade, but he never did. It's always bothered me, but…_

 _I can't even begin to explain it. Why I'm angry but not at the same time. It's whatever, I guess. Anyway, Umbra possessed Kharan and just… asked me if I was happy. I told him about my life, sort of… and he happily let himself go. His last thoughts… if he had any… were that I was free, a free person. That struck a little nerve inside me though. I'm not sure I should be happy, mad, or anywhere in between. I just don't know. Anyway, Ksaan is here and he's going to be training Kharan and me today. We're finally taking what we learned in camp and using it. Ksaan is going to make sure we're ready for our test by the end of the month…_

 _Ahmbra Dragonis._

 _…_

"And we're here." Ksaan waved his hand at the skyline. We'd just finished climbing Dying Winds Point, one of the highest plateaus in the Sunken Canyon, which was a series of dangerous cliffs: worn away from years of wind, sand, and war. The canyon began on the western part of Rimmen, heading northwest of into the rest of the badlands, and continued south until it took the rest of the southern part of town. It's partially why Rimmen is as safe as it is here. Invasion can only come by so many different mountainous passes and whatnot… unless they traveled from the north or by ship. That's the only other way into town that isn't elaborate and life-threatening. The sun was just about overhead of us, bright blue sky and white clouds were everywhere. It was a beautiful day.

Kharan fell to his knees, gasping out a long breath. "What was the point of all that training we did at camp if I don't retain all of those runs we did?" He started panting as he reached for his chest.

The air was thin up here, but… we _were_ in the mountainous area right outside town. It was in the most southern part of town, heading into the desert. You could see the canal river that ran alongside the port from up here, as well as the massive series of cracks in the ground ahead of us, followed by miles and miles of massive cliffs leading to what everyone called the Never-Ending Fall. Heck, you could see all of Rimmen from up here. All six districts had their own specific design and they might as well have their own borders, because you can see exactly where one district ended and another began.

When I first moved here, Mom told me about the different districts of the town, of how there were six distinct districts: The Waterfront, Elven, Business, Badlands, Forest, and the Marshlands. I lived in the Waterfront District which was basically the beach houses, small restaurants, warehouses, and whatnots. It's the port part of town. It lied right on the eastern side of town, hugging the river and beaches the whole way through, most of downtown concentrated around the port. Mom lives there because Dad, Ralof, is a fisherman. He goes fishing with his friends, selling his fish to the nearby towns. He also does cargo transporting and fishing trips for anyone willing to pay for the ride. I hear when he goes out on these trips that he's usually gone for a few days, so I won't get to see him often, but when he does come back from them, he brings in a lot of gold.

To the northeast of town was the Marshland. The Marshland was where most of the Argonians lived, as well as Ksaan and a few plantations. You could see them from here; the moon sugar farms and farm houses. I heard that Loshin lives up there as well. His family owned one of the biggest plantations here in Rimmen, supplying most of our moon milk too. They also had a regular farm as well, raising cattle and chickens as their main source of meat. Ksaan has his own plantation… his aunt used to own it before she passed away. Ksaan seems to think the Dominion killed her… but I don't know. I don't know what to believe about that. Just a few days ago, the Dominion tried to steal me… so I guess it's possible.

Speaking of the Dominion, to the south part of town, right on the outskirts of the plateau we were standing atop of was the Elven District. From what I gathered on the walk down here, the Altmeri all seemed to live on the eastern side, enjoying the more… tropical landscape, while the Dunmer seemed to be living in the more arid desert/badland environment. I could see a few farms in both areas. Everyone looked like ants from up here, but with my keen eyes, I could still make out enough detail to recognize a few faces I saw in the Waterfront district.

To the very west… was the Badlands. Giant rocky uneven hills and small mountains. Most passes were thin enough for a horse or two, and most of the Clan Houses lived up on their own plateaus. Almost all the Khajiits lived in the Badlands, except for a few other families living up in the more northern parts of town, like the forest. The main reason why no one but Khajiits in the badlands was because of how hilly the area was. Our claws and natural agility made climbing the mountainous terrain easy, but for anyone else it became an annoyance getting home. The Badlands District was home to the older clans of the town, one of the families being Tesh's. I wanted to go visit the Badlands sometime. I hear there are some ancient schools of Khajiit culture there, and I wanted to go visit the Shifting Sands dance studio, one of our oldest traditional dances. Like most things Khajiit… it was almost its own martial art. A lot of jumping, twisting, and kicking. It was designed by slaves that weren't allowed to learn how to fight. So… they learned how to dance… and kill doing it. I'm interested in an art form created by slaves made for combat. I think it would be something really cool to learn. Something I could share with Umbra someday.

"Ok, enough slacking off." I felt a hand plant itself on my shoulder lightly.

I snapped my head around to see Ksaan looking out at the town. "Sure looks amazing from up here, right?" I could barely hear him over the howling wind. It's really windy up here, and the wind doesn't seem to end. Dying Winds… it's not some cute word. You catch a bad day up here… and the winds will literally throw you down the mountain. Why does Ksaan continually take us to dangerous places? I'm guessing it's not for the sightseeing.

Kharan looked up from the ground, still panting. "It's really hard to breathe up here."

Ksaan nodded. "Yes. The wind is filled with sand, it's very thin, and to top it all off… we're in a vortex." He waved his hand around the area. "This is one of the few spots in the whole area where you can tap into Nirn's soulic energy, pure mana. It's rumored that there used to be a massive blue orb that used to float up here, but it disappeared about 30 years ago. There are still a lot of elders that remember studying the orb. My Aunt Clara used to talk about it too, even though it vanished when she was a little girl. According to what Aunt Clara told me… it's a massive rotating orb with Aedric runes scribbled on it. It's recorded in numerous volumes in our library here in town, even some scribbles of its design. So… I have to believe her when she told me she was able to touch it without being torn into magicka… unlike a few other people in town. It became a hazard in town… if you touched the orb… you would even be vaporized or… just about anything really. Some people grew stronger, some people disintegrated… others unlocked new soulic abilities. Some… became gods. So many essays were drafted on what the orb was and why it was, and why and how some people were killed and why could learn new experimental magicka. And after since the orb vanished, some say… you can see through the dimensions up here. That some kind of portals in time and space rip open… these tiny round orbs that suck your soul appear. I come up here all the time, and I never see anything like that though. Even so, this is a great place to tap into your soulic energy, to break through your own limiters keeping you from becoming better mages. It's just full of potential for training mages like yourselves. Especially you, Kharan."

Kharan nodded, still leaning over catching his breath. "Then why I feel so drained here? This place feels like its feeding off of me."

Ksaan shrugged. "Everyone has a different experience. Some feel drained, some feel relieved. Some feel invigorated. I feel invigorated whenever I come here. I feel like I can take on the world." He looked over to me. "What do you feel, Ahmbra?"

I let the question hang in the air as I started focusing on the immediate environment. I could feel the slightly chilly air, the constant breeze flowing around me, as if stuck in its own cyclone. I could feel the plateau underneath my feet shifting ever so slightly, as if the sands under my boots were shifting with the wind. I could smell the crisp smell of charged energy, coming from my own fur as my electricity started flowing off naturally. I felt a bit more focused up here. And my electricity was responding to it. I looked back at Ksaan, shrugging. "I feel fine. It's… calming, kind of."

Ksaan nodded. "That's the normal answer up here. Ipyan loves it though. She seems to think every Illusion practitioner needs to come up here at least once in their lives." He waved it off. "Anyway, we're not really here for a history lesson. We're here to train. The vortex has this effect of separating us from the living world, transporting us to the magickal one. It's a place where tapping into your soulic energy becomes easier. You two can train up here, and we will. If you two really get into it… we'll set up camp this weekend and live out here until you're ready for the test."

Kharan only sighed, leaning down, placing his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. "Live up here? Until the 25th?"

Ksaan shook his head. "Maybe on the weekends, but we do have 2 weeks to train. I'm pretty sure we'll hit Level 2 before the end of today. So, here's how it works." He pointed to me and Kharan. "You two will spar." He looked over to Kharan. "Your magick, as we've learned at camp, is your ability to naturally absorb magicka. Your aura actually grasps nearby magick forms, absorbing their nature into your own."

Kharan glanced down. "That means I steal magick, doesn't it?"

Ksaan shook his head. "No. Your earlier statement about sponging is not like soaking up water, it's more like…" Ksaan glanced up in to the air, trying to figure out what to say. "It's more like dipping a sponge into paint. The sponge absorbs the paint, and you can use the paint to spread it around, even if temporarily. Your magick molds to that of whatever magick is nearby, without actually taking any magick from the others nearby. If there is more than one magick you're exposed to… you pick up more than one ability. Just like mixing paints. It might be interesting to see how you adapt various forms into something entirely new."

Kharan nodded. "So it's just like earlier… when I teleported."

Ksaan smiled. "And you have been spending a lot of time with Ahmbra, climbing up this mountain. I'd wager that you have her ability by now. Which means…" He pointed his fingers at us again. "If you two spar, you probably won't be able to hurt each other. And to make it easier for both of you to pass your test… I want you both to be at each other's test, close enough that Kharan's ability will still resemble your own. I'll explain to the staff why you're there for his test, if not so that he can retain some amount of ability. And he'll likely have to show off more than one style for it to not be a fluke. So… tomorrow I'll be here with a few other friends. And the lot of us are all going to train."

"Friends?" I glanced up at Ksaan. "Like Ipyan?"

Ksaan shook his head. "Well, she might be here… she's Kharan's sponsor, but I'm thinking some of the other students. I want to see Kharan take on Triwha's Blind Eye, as well as my own Firecracker. If he can somehow learn Ipyan's Influencer… I think we'll be good. Maybe get an Enchanter involved. Eanrian would be a great choice." Ksaan looked over at me. "And for you Ahmbra… I want you to just focus on actually learning how to direct your lightning. So, we'll be shooting it at apples and whatnot."

"Apples?" I asked. Why apples?

Ksaan nodded. "Yup, apples. Worked for Katia. Should work for you too." He took off the backpack he carried up with him, placing it on the ground. He unlatched the top flap, revealing a bunch on apples. Red Delicious… apples. My stomach started to rumble just looking at them. I heard Kharan's go off as well. Perhaps magick wasn't the only thing he absorbed? Did he obtain my apatite as well? Does he absorb my memories or personality? That would be kind of… weird? Maybe?

He glanced at us with a small smile. "After we're done with our warmup practice, we'll have some lunch. If we don't get anywhere before mid-afternoon, we'll have another snack and head back. But… I think we'll be good. And if you're both where I want you to be before mid-afternoon, we'll have a small sparring match. And I'm sure we'll get there. After all, using magicka in this place is second-nature. It's using it outside of here that will be hard. I'm just hoping that training up here to start with will help us when we move out of it."

He picked up the backpack, walking to the other side of the plateau. He started setting the apples down on the ground, spacing them out every four feet or so. The apples were about 30 feet away from us, but with the plateau looking like a bland sandbox, the apples stood out just enough that I could point a finger at one, imaging that I was firing a bolt of lightning at it. Nothing happened.

"Just remember what you learned at camp!" Ksaan screamed over to us. "Visualize and direct! Summon your magicka to your hands and then… will it to fire out. Your visualization will be the guiding force behind your magicka's direction! If you don't visualize it, it won't go where you want it to. But even if you have perfect visualization, your mind has to be trained in controlling actual energy. You're going to miss… a lot. And getting the magick to go where you want it to go is what makes you Level 2. You have to be able to control your magick to the point where you can do whatever you need it to do… to a point. You're not going to need to be a god. You just need to show that you have it under control!" I could barely hear Ksaan's voice over the wind.

I glanced over at Kharan. His dreads were dancing in the wind. He glanced over at me, brushing one of his dreads away from his face. He smirked as he nodded to me. "I think we got this." He stretched his hand out, but nothing happened. There was a small spark on his shoulder, but it quickly flicked up, flashing over my head. I had to duck a little to keep it from smacking into me. He was actually using my lightning! He _did_ have my ability!

Kharan noticed the slipup; he jumped a bit, looking over to me. "Sorry, Ahmbra! I've… never used _your_ ability. It's different than Xian's fire. I could summon it kinda."

"And that's your problem." Ksaan screamed to us. "You have a complicated magick. You need to show that you understand various amounts of different ones in order to pass Level 2. Just having one aspect of someone else's magick won't do it for the judges, I'm afraid. You will have to show Level 2 for more than just one. Maybe even have to demonstrate a bit of their own as well. Ro'Prin will be there. I'll try to see if we can get her to show up. Just so you can get used to her ability as well."

Kharan sighed as he brought his hands towards the apples. "Any advice, Ahmbra?" He glanced at me.

I didn't really know where to begin, so I shrugged. "I really don't understand it either. Just… I've been told that being you is what will let it flow. Being ok with who you are… or something like that."

I turned my attention away from Kharan. I had to get moving myself. I wasn't going to fry any apples without doing some work as well. I tried to clear my mind, which was pretty hard with the wind constantly whispering in my ears. The whispering was kind of… enchanting. It was like all my ears could focus on was the whispering of the wind against the rock. And as I focused on that sound, I started focusing on the movement of the wind, how it would blow through my fur, circling around us like it was trapped in an invisible orb of wind. As the wind became part of my thoughts, as the circled plateau became the center of the universe, I felt a spark fly up my back. I thought it was my magicka finally coming to life.

"Sorry!" Kharan cried out. "I accidentally hit you." Or it was Kharan.

I opened my eyes, looking over to Kharan. Lightning was crackling on his fur, zapping all around him uncontrollably. He was doing deep breathing exercises, moving his arms like he was practicing Waning-Moon Shifting-Sands, a modified version of Shifting Sands which incorporates the slower and meditative martial art of Waning Moon. He lifted his hand up, exhaling as a bolt of lightning crackled off his hand, flashing away in an arc that raced into the air, fading away just as quickly as it sprung to life. More and more lightning began to crackle off him indiscriminately, slamming into the stone all around us. Luckily for us, his 'bolts' of lightning were little more than tiny sparks that ruffled the fur and left a small metallic tang on your tongue, but not anything close to harmful or lethal.

I turned back to my own hand. I took a deep breath and focused on the energy inside me. I could feel it traveling in there; I just had to summon it up. I heard a small crackle, and I opened my eyes. I could see small streams of lightning pass through my fur on my arm. I tried to feel it. I tried to see how the lightning felt. As I reached out, it became a bit more aggressive, forming into larger streams, eventually zapping off my arm. I exhaled, visualizing more and more lightning to come to my arm. As I did so, slowly I could see more coming up. Ok… now we're getting somewhere. I should try to do something with it now.

I snapped my hand forward, but nothing happened. The lightning in my arm started dying off. Ok… how about something a little different then. I took a deep breath, bringing my hand back, visualizing the energy in my arm flowing back. I arced my hand up, visualizing the lightning inside me to flow up my arm towards my palm. I could feel the heat inside me travel up. And then I snapped my hand forward, willing and victualing the lightning inside me to arc out. To fly out of me and strike something. My hand snapped perfectly, as far as I know, but no lightning shot out. My palm was burning though. I could see tiny sparks of lightning gathering near my fingers.

I sighed as I pulled my hand back. My arm was tingling a bit, feeling tight for some reason. I thought I'd ignore it. I pushed my hand out again, gently this time. I focused even harder on the energy moving inside my arm, pushing it out and visualizing it flowing out my palm. As my hand drew near the stretch, I snapped it out. I felt the energy spark out, and a small spark exploded out of my palm. It didn't flash very far before it died off. Even that by itself perked my ears up. I did it. I mean… I do it a lot by accident, and one time on purpose but… I actually _did it_!

I drew my arm back, a thick smile growing on my face. I felt excited by the thought that it would start getting easier. I snapped my arm out, too excitedly this time, and all I got for my efforts was my left arm screaming out in pain, lightning zapping out of my arm and shoulder in all directions. Each zap of lightning was escorted with a sharp burning twitch in my body. It left me stumbling off my feet to my knees, my breath caught in my throat. My left arm was both burning hotly, and numbly limp. My fingers barely had any life inside them, but I could make my fingers bend. That was… good, I guess. What the heck was that though?

"Ahmbra…" Ksaan called from down by the apples. "It would seem you lost your focus. I know how it feels to finally tap into your power… but you're not focusing. You need more focus. Shock responds to focus, not… not happily flailing your arms around like a Telvanni Fire Witch that wears pigtails." A what? I don't even know what that is. I looked up at him, grabbing my burning arm. The burning was still there, deep within my arm. "That sensation you're no doubt feeling is burnout. You overtaxed your soulic boundaries. You got too excited, tried to do too much too soon. Remember, you are a series of muscles: physical, mental, emotional, spiritual. Lift something too heavy, you pull a muscle. You throw yourself into a social situation too heavy… you panic, shut down. You try to throw everything you have in your arm in one blast without focus and proper training… you get burnout." Ksaan sighed. "Just… meditate for a few minutes. Deep breaths. That kind of stuff. You'll be fine."

Ksaan smiled warmly to me, nodding as he turned back to Kharan. "And you. Take what I just told her and let it flow. Don't force it, don't encourage more than you can handle. Just… be what you are."

Kharan nodded. "Be who I am…" He mumbled, closing his eyes. As he stood there in the wind, I saw the soles of his feet start to glow, his thick dreadlocked mane started flowing up as his aura literally started turning into rainbow fire. Lightning started streaking off his fur, rainbow colored, snapping at the ground, causing small explosions as it did so. Kharan's eyes snapped open, shifting red for a second as he gently snapped his hand forward. Streaks of rainbow lightning snapped out like sharp whips towards the apples. He missed every shot, hitting the ground near the apples, but the force of the lightning caused the ground to explode on impact. Shards of ground, glowing brightly, flew around the air. There was a small pause before the bright rubble started exploding into bright lights. A delayed explosion that tore apart several apples on the left side.

I couldn't believe what I just saw. Kharan's aura started dying down again, his dreadlocks falling back to his shoulders. His arm slacked and he leaned forward, catching his breath. " _Tuzin_.." He breathed out. He ended up on his knees, breathing heavily. "Wow…" He looked at his hand. "That was… new."

Ksaan shrugged. "It was just a combination of Ahmbra and my magicka. My Firecracker fused with Ahmbra's Lightning. Interesting."

Kharan smiled. "I should name it… um… what mixes rainbows and lightning?" He tapped his chin. He glanced over at me, smiling. "Well, Ahmbra? You have any suggestions?"

I shook my head. Why was he asking me? I didn't know much about magicka, and making up names… I'm not too well-known for that either. Heck my own name is just Umbra with Ah instead of U. Just thinking of Umbra, of how he possessed Kharan earlier… how he basically said his goodbye to me… it made my heart twinge a bit. I didn't know I missed him as much as I did… but he did so much for me. And now… I had Kharan, Ksaan, Mom, and Dad. I was slowly beginning to figure out my new life. I had friends, I had a family. I had a life, something I never thought I'd have. I started to push myself up, picking my arm up. It still burned; my fingers still barely bent. I decided to use my right arm this time, let my left arm rest.

I glanced back at Kharan. "I'd call it Love-ning." I only said that because I loved the color of the lightning: the bright rainbow-colored lightning. I loved the way it caused the ground around it to rip apart, fuse it with exploding energy, causing even more brightly-colored explosions. The whole display was lovely. Kharan had a lovely magicka, just like Ksaan. Bright, colorful… expressive. I had to find my own. I had to see it for myself. I wanted to see the color of my soul. Let my new life begin. My real new life.

I focused on one of the only remaining apples still standing in one piece. It was off to the right, so I adjusted myself to face it properly. I took a few deep breaths, letting my right arm move in a way that felt comfortable, flowing with the energy within me and all around me. I was trying everything I could to figure out how to visualize and will this power inside me. I wanted to do this… I needed to do this. I'm a new person now. I'm a mage. And any second now… I was going to prove it. I belong in this city… I belong with these friends. I belong with my family. I belong inside this body. I belong with this magicka. It's part of me; and I'm part of it. That makes no sense to me… but it has to be true. It has to be! It's part of me, so… I'm part of it too. We're partners: my lightning and me. Time to prove it.

I focused deep on the feeling of the flowing sensation deep inside my arms. With every breath, with every wave of my arms, I could feel it shift, push and pull, coil and release. As I started getting a feel for it, I started trying to pull it in and push it out with every shift of my arm. Lightning started crackling on my arms. With every push, a little more would crackle, sometimes flick off. With each intensive breath, with each and every push, the crackling grew more and more. Bigger sparks started launching out, striking the ground around me. Not enough to do anything, but it wasn't hurting me anymore.

I felt something inside me finally say, 'it's time'. My body shifted by itself as it faced the apple. I felt my legs tense, bending at the knees, my feet firmly planting themselves on the ground. My hips lightly swiveled as my arm snaked out, my fingers coiling out. I felt, pushed, and visualized the lightning within me snaking out towards the apple. And it happened. There was a second of hesitation but the end result was a series of small beams of lightning launching from my arm, my palm, and my fingers, all racing for the apple. I didn't hit it of course, it landed almost everywhere but the apple. But at least it was in the general direction. For the second time, I felt like I had accomplished the impossible.

My body decided it wasn't done. I stepped forward, snapping my left arm out, gently flicking my palm in the same direction. Another bolt of lightning, this one a little stronger, bolted out, flying in the same general direction, this time a little straighter. It hit near the apple, striking the ground. I shifted my stance again, snapping out my right arm, and then I stepped back, in some kind of neutral stance. I snapped both hands out, each time, bolts of lightning snapped out of me. I almost felt out of control of my own body; it acted on instinct. Like it knew what I needed to do to get this done.

The bolts of lightning landed near the apple, each one getting closer and closer. One landed near Ksaan, but he dodged it like it was a normal occurrence for him. And once I was done with my little combo, I felt a little breathless. There was nothing more I could do right now. I think… I think my spiritual muscles are maxed out for today.

Ksaan confirmed this by nodding. "Ok, you two look done. We'll enjoy a little snack before trying again. If nothing happens, we'll head back and have some fun."

* * *

 **Cearbhail:**

 _You guys do realize that I talk a great game but... eventually something will happen that I can't control and it will ruin this whole thing for me. Like always. Anyway, character sharing time. Um... any requests? Until then, notes on how I created Ashi._

Ashi is a son of two local cabbage farmers who moved to Rimmen to give their son a bright future as a mage. Ashi is however indifferent to the ideas of him being a firedrake, and is perhaps the most laidback student to ever attend Rimmen Firedrake Academy. He spends most of his class playing with a ball of yarn or absentmindedly staring out the window he sits next to. Of course, he has to have some amount of magicka in order to have been accepted to RFA. His magicka manifests as a series of Illusions, which of course he casts on himself during class to make it look like he's actually paying attention. Only Ahmbra and Tesh are able to see through his Illusions though. Bast is hopelessly unable to break any illusion cast against her during their test battles, making it something Ashi does whenever he can if she says something he can't stand… like pushing him to study magicka better (since she can't through his illusions).


	11. A Certain Warehouse

**Cearbhail:**

 _So, I'm back. I wanted to get this done three days ago, but I kept getting side-tracked by everything else. so, this story is going to evolve a little bit. Ahmbra won't be the only perspective, mostly because the story will have a lot of holes inside it if we're only seeing things by Ahmbra's perspective.  
_

 _=^^= Enjoy..._

* * *

[Ngil Vhoga'Shuv]

 _Waterfront District Report: 6th Second Seed, 4e 206_

 _The day had little incidents. A few students dueling in the street caused a young Altmer boy, identified as Corharn Spell-Winder, to spill his shaved ice onto the street. The two dueling students, identified as Lani Sihgo-Zasary and Gadthir Ferngully. The two were having a heated debate about whether or not the newest issue of Lunar Splice would involve a war that would kill her current love interest. Gadthir used his future seeing ability to spoil not only the newest issue scheduled for the 10th's release, but also spoiled the entire arc for the next three years. This led to the two of them fighting it out in the streets. This was the entirety of yesterday's activities in dueling for the Waterfront District._

 _The search for the Dunmer with Telekinesis abilities that assaulted two Khajiit girls continues. Suspects are as follows: Relyn Dredayn, a sophomore student at AIM that specializes in Air Manipulation; against Captain Seralas's suggestion, his daughter Cruelle Seralas, an upcoming freshman at AIM that specializes in Barrier magick (although all witness sightings placed this elven as a tall man with grown beard, but Illusion-based agents in the Dominion are known throughout Rimmen); Azarian Vian, a third year teacher at AIM that specializes in Levitation; and perhaps the most outstanding current suspect, a registered assaulter: Orlan Valas, unique powers of Telekinetic control, which he has used on multiple occasions to force people to do as he pleased. Even though Orlan is our lead suspect, and currently locked in an interrogation room, other suspects are still being investigated._

 _I managed to interview Relyn today in the Waterfront District. He was glad to tell me that he was busy the day of the assault, studying in the elven dance studio with his mom, who I was able to confirm this with. Cruelle was unavailable for questioning, and I was almost placed on suspension by Captain Seralas for even suggesting an interview with his daughter. Azarian was able to confirm that he was with a student of his, Casseth Selothan, helping him prepare for his final exam. It would seem that Orlan is our culprit, but something still feels wrong. When I interrogated him, he had a solid alibi for working at the fishery. Several workers were able to confirm that he was there at the time of the assault, and there was little time for him to be vacant from his position._

 _I need more time to find out who did this. I'm going to a well-known seer on the 8th of Second Seed to see if she can help me put this case to rest._

 _Sergeant Ngil Vhoga'Shuv_

 _…_

This search was turning up nothing. Hours upon hours in the local library scouring over all the notes I had taken over the course of this investigation. This had to be connected to the Dominion somehow. It could not _not_ be connected to the Dominion. Little Khajiit girl destined to be the _Mythical Ballista_ somehow ends up kidnapped by a Dunmer man? This kind of stuff did not just happen on accident. And if the Dominion truly knew who the girl was, and what she was going to do in the future, then… I wonder just how long we have until the Dominion cell in this town goes active again.

I sighed as I shut my notebook, rocking back in my chair. Three hours, I've been sitting in this chair for three hours. Waiting for Dra'Vio to come by. She was supposed to shed some light on this little prophecy. I only knew the bare bones of the whole thing, and Dra'Vio seemed to know everything about it. She was supposed to stop by and let me know what I need to know to crack this case. Hopefully by the end of the day, I'll have found the Dunmer that catnapped M'Ahmbra, and get him locked behind a cell where he'll quietly contemplate his forlorn future behind bars while a mind reader takes his mind apart. We'll learn what we need to learn, one way or another.

I sat there for the next few minutes, just retracing everything I knew about the case. There wasn't much that I did know, and that bothered me. The small tigress was supposed to become some powerful firedrake? She was going to destroy the Dominion in Rimmen once and for all? I couldn't see that happening. With how easily she was taken down by just one lone operative, it seemed unlikely that she could ever become something of a threat to their organization. But… if she was some great heroine, it was my job to keep her safe until she realizes her prophecy.

It's my job to protect this city. I'm a Mage Force sergeant, in charge of my own select squad, one I went out of my own way to recruit for. Sure, there are older officers I could have recruited, older more experienced combat related professionals, but my squad was special to me. Most of the kids I work with have no one really to look up to, and they are really talented. I have three kids on my squad: Violet, Mvoshi, and Zvhar. All three have special qualifications that help me keep order in this city.

Zvhar is a young Suthay that lives in the Badlands District of town. Zvhar is a natural when it comes to reading minds. There are a few mind readers within Mage Force, and their ability to link our minds to each other allows us to work together flawlessly. Not only are we able to coordinate our movements with each other, we are able to reach the minds of victims and sometimes even culprits. It was thanks to Zvhar that we were able to even know young M'Ahmbra was in trouble. Her mind was a screaming storm of troubling thoughts that Zvhar wasn't able to ignore. He knew immediately that she was in trouble and informed Violet to the source of the mental outcry.

Violet is my newest addition to the team. She was a young Bosmer teleporter that lived in the Waterfront District with her father. Her mothed died when she was young, and her father had a few run-ins with Mage Force before. We believe he's a smuggler for some kind of crime syndicate, but we never are able to find things. In all honesty, it might be Violet's doing; she's very protective of her father, and I can't blame her for it. For her sake, we try to keep our eyes away from what he does during the night hours. All that aside, Violet is a very dedicated officer, being our main rescue force. She can get in, grab the target, and leave without anyone else being the wiser.

And that leaves us with Mvoshi, the youngest detective I've ever known. His special magick allows him to analyze crime scenes in a way that most people can't. Slight scuffs on the table, a knot of fur on the floor, and perhaps the smell of terror in the air, and he can retell everything that happened in the room in extreme detail. He's rarely wrong, and if he is, it's about some minor detail like the color of the eyes of the culprit. He's the son of the town's strongest Khajiit warrior: Ro'Prin, one of the town's councilors. Being head of RFA, she has to be on the council. She was a respected Mage Force Captain back in the day.

Of course, you have me. I'm just a combat user. I have Ice magick. It can manifest in several ways, and when I say manifest, what I really mean is that of all the ways I've experimented with my natural abilities… I've learned a few ways of reconstructing it. Anywhere from massive snow clouds that can obscure view, to smaller snow clouds with razor sharp snowflakes that can cut a lead pipe in a matter of seconds. But how my powers first began was as a sheet of ice. I could wrap my claws in ice and slash with it; and whenever I touched someone, I could wrap the ice around them, make my own handcuffs. I started out in Mage Force when I was a student, under Ja'Clara's squad. She was my mentor, and she taught me how to do things about my magicka that I never thought I could do. It's because of her that I'm able to summon clouds of snowflakes that can cut through steel. Her magicka was really similar to my own. I owe her everything for teaching me as good as she did.

"Ma'am." I almost jumped out of my chair when Violet just popped up out of nowhere, sitting on the table. Just like always, there was no sound except the _thud_ on the table as she suddenly materialized on top of it. When doing stuff like teleporting, she never just appears on ground level (she's afraid of getting stuck inside of concrete or wood), so she appears an inch above ground every time she jumps.

I took a second to recompose myself as I nodded to her. "You have a report?"

Violet nodded. "Ahmbra is with two senior students and her friend. They're up at Dying Winds Point, camping out. I've been watching Ahmbra do her training… she's starting to get it. I mean… she's been up there for two days now, shooting lightning at apple and whatnot. I'm actually more impressed with her friend." Violet, impressed? That has me intrigued. And a small blush growing on her cheeks? Oh, this should be good.

"Her friend? What's their deal?" And the blush is deepening, very interesting.

Violet smiled as she plopped herself down into a chair. "I've looked into him. He's a transfer student from a small town outside of Dune called Sandstone. From what I gathered, it's a cliffside town, built into the side of a canyon. From what I read in a research book, only Khajiits feel safe traversing the town. Some roads break down and can't be repaired, but Khajiits are adept at climbing over rocks and leaping the distance without a second thought."

She was stalling; I can see the blush growing even brighter as she tried to avoid the subject. My tail's starting to flick in anticipation of hearing why she loves this Khajiit so much. "And this boy?"

A small smile grew as she said, "His name is Kharan." Kharan, I'm not familiar with the name. He might not yet be in the system. "He's applying to the Firedrake Academy alongside Ahmbra this semester." Ah, so he's new. "His primary ability seems to be some kind of absorption where he can take onto the abilities of others, even combine them into a new ability. It's very versatile. But, that's not what's impressive about him. He can use all these abilities instinctually, if a bit clumsily. I met the guy, put him on his butt, and seconds later… _bam_!" She slammed her hand on the table, drawing the attention of several people reading quietly in the room. The elder Altmer librarian glanced our way, glaring at us for being so loud. "He's suddenly gone, vanished in a teleportation, _my_ ability. He slammed into a glass door, knocking himself out. It was pretty hilarious, but it reminded me of how I started developing about four years ago; that day I accidentally fused myself into the road. Almost crushed my body too.

"And that had me curious. So, I looked into him, did my research. There's no sign of magicka in his family, none! He must be the first one in his family. And for it to be so natural for him… it's amazing, and such an amazing talent to be born with! I mean, I come from a family that has always been shapeshifters… I'm the first teleporter in my family in three generations! I didn't have anyone to show me how to grow better at teleportation, and I'm guessing Kharan is pretty much the same. I might give him some lessons on how to teleport, to avoid any accidents like smacking into a wall, or losing a foot in a glass doorway."

Violet continued to prattle on, planning every instance of how she was going to spend time with Kharan. I almost hated to interrupt her, but I needed to know something else. "So, M'Ahmbra. You said you were watching her train. How is her progress coming along?"

Violet shrugged. "I don't see her becoming some big deal, but she's managed to figure out how to shoot her lightning off her fingertips in a straight arc. She's hitting apples and whatnot consistently. She's probably at Level 2, or just short of it."

She's only been practicing for a couple weeks, so she's not too far off where she should be by now. Getting to Level 2 and 3 is pretty easy, and the bar is pretty low for those users to obtain. It's hitting Level 4 and 5 that is difficult. Levels 6 and 7 are almost unheard of. I'm not entirely certain of what the qualifications of either of those levels would be. Level 7s are supposed to be able to affect the whole planet, but there has only been one person in all of history to achieve that level of magicka: Nrillia. The current High King of Skyrim seems to be at the Level 6 category, as well as a famous monk by the name of Solomon Battle-Born. Mage Force keeps records on strong mages, mostly as a reference on how strong magicka users can really become. There is also the possible threat of these mages against our town, and how to deal with those threats if they come to us.

"But, she's starting to get it, I guess that's what matters." Violet sighed. "When's the entrance exam?"

"The 25th of Second Seed." And today's the 8th. She has 17 days to get to Level 3. I suspect she'll hit that point next week, probably around the 14th. I've seen it with children in this town all the time, myself included. She has a combative magicka like me. She'll be able to get it better if she is in a fight with someone. Someone who understands her powers. Someone like me. Hmm… I may have to approach this kitten and see if I can help her develop her into the heroine she is supposed to be.

"Well, I think I need to attend this training camp. She needs all the help she can get after all." I sighed, pushing myself up. "Dra'Vio was supposed to meet me here, but she's an hour late." She probably ended up in a situation that demanded her attention. I'll just have to try talking to her on a different day. I can't stall for much longer though, I need to resolve this case before whoever did this gets away with it. We're monitoring all passages in and out of the town, including waterways. No one matching the description of the elven man left, but that doesn't mean they won't get away if I continue taking days off like this.

"Isn't that her?" Violet pointed to the short elderly woman slowly walking her way over to my table. Dra'Vio was leaning heavily on her cane, almost crawling over to me. Age hit her hard. She used to be one of Mage Force's best operatives, and now… it's hard to imagine what I'll be like when I hit her age.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." Dra'Vio said as she walked over to the table.

Violet smiled. "Well, I'll let you two talk about things. I'll check up on you if something happens with Ahmbra." Violet vanished without a sound.

Dra'Vio smiled at the vanishing girl, and slowly put herself in the same chair Violet was sitting in. "It's hard to get these bones to cross halfway across town anymore. I pretty much live in the school." She pulled out a waving fan and began fanning her face. "Still, it's nice to be here. So, Officer Ngil, you want to know who catnapped M'Ahmbra."

I nodded. "Of course. Don't you want to catch the person responsible too? The Dominion could be involved, and with her whole prophecy… it might lead to the destruction of the town if she were to be taken away."

Dra'Vio glanced up at me with, glaring right through me. "What has been said cannot be unsaid. What has been seen… cannot be unseen. What I mean to say is… what I have seen to come _will_ come to pass. I do not see the road she will walk, nor do I know the trials she will face to get there, but she _will_ save this town. As for the incident, I do not know the man you seek, nor can I look into the past and find him, but I can give you a starting point." She pulled out a map, unfolding it in front of me.

This was Dra'Vio's way of telling Mage Force where crimes were going to happen. She'd scan the town and then circle buildings saying things like, "Illegal senche fighting ring."

Dra'Vio traced her finger over the Waterfront District. "This is where the crime occurred." She thumbed the alleyway behind the diner on the corner of a street. "Two Khajiit girls were attacked by a Telekinetic." So, he was Telekinetic. "He raced with Ahmbra down this road." She slid her finger down the map towards the pier. "He was going to put her on a ship… transport her out of town. Reasons… unknown."

"Was he in the Dominion?"

Dra'Vio glanced at the map. "I'm not that kind of Empath, Ngil. You would need an empathic reader to find out such stuff. I hear you have a boy by that description. Zvhar?"

I nodded. "He's good at what he does, but he couldn't read the culprit's mind. Little Ahmbra seemed to be able to kick him out too once she realized he was in there."

Dra'Vio nodded. "So, she's beginning to learn then. Mage Force can only do so much to find and stop criminals. Little Ahmbra need more than just someone watching her… she needs to know how to fight her own battles. And Mage Force needs to get back to its full strength. You have your own personal vendetta against the Dominion, and it's being neglected to protect Ahmbra."

"She's the key to destroying the Dominion, isn't she?" I almost growled out. "If she's the destroyer of the Dominion, then… she's my key to victory. I don't care who gets it done, I just want it done."

Dra'Vio nodded. "She will be the one to destroy the Dominion, that much I know for certain. There is something you can do, however." She pointed to a warehouse. "I have seen a chemical plant in my visions. I'm not sure if it's the Dominion or not, but… there is a drug in the works. I'm sure you've heard of it. It increases the level of a user's spiritual magicka."

Ah, _Nirvana_. Yes, I've heard of it. Plenty of kids end up in the hospital because of it. It increases one's abilities drastically. A Level 1 can easily become a Level 4 in matter of seconds. A Level 3 turning into a Level 6. But it has horrible backlashes. An Illusionist taking the drug might accidentally crush the mind of everyone in town… but so far, we only have one comatose patient: Rhran. He somehow consumed the drug, and… it didn't end well for him. It boosted his abilities far beyond what his mind could comprehend. He stretched his mind too far, absorbing too much information from the town. There were headaches across town, but they only lasted a few minutes. That's all it took before his mind shut off. He's still sitting in the Illusion Therapy Treatment Center as one of our few comatose patients. Our mind healers can't seem to piece his mind back together, much like another patient: Pvhat Qikar'shuv. At least that patient isn't comatose. He's just… broken. I often pay respects to the family. I heard Pvhat used to work on Mage Force with Ja'Clara. His baby daughter accidentally shattered his mind one day. This was two years before I moved to the city.

"Well, if we can get this poison off the streets, all the better. So, you're certain this warehouse has the lab in it?" I looked at the map, memorizing which warehouse it was.

Dra'Vio nodded. "Yes. Go there and you'll see it yourself."

I started to stand up, but I just had a couple more questions. "If I give you a name, you can tell me specifics, right?"

Dra'Vio only glanced at me. "I can try."

"Orlan Valas. Is he in the Dominion?"

Dra'Vio shook her head. "No. He's a fisherman. Telekinetic user, Level 4."

"He's abducted people in the past. Did he abduct M'Ahmbra?"

Dra'Vio closed her eyes, sighing. "I can't tell you that. That's in the past, not the future."

"Will he abduct someone in the future?"

She nodded. "Yes."

Now we're onto something. "Who?"

"M'Ahmbra."

I had shivers running down my spine, my fur beginning to rise. "For what reasons?"

She shook her head. "I can't… tell, yet. I will keep drawing on this tonight and perhaps into tomorrow. I will let you know what comes up."

"Ok, but when?"

Dra'Vio shrugged. "One year from now. No specific date that I can see. It will be before the end of her school year. There are several branches of timelines that lead to this event… and they all converge in this moment. M'Ahmbra will be abducted by this person, but the reasons why… I can't see yet."

So, before the end of the next school year. I wonder if that's when the Dominion plans on attacking the town. It's not much, but it's something to go on. Until then, I should get rid of the _Nirvana_ drug producer.

I pushed myself out of my chair, nodding to Dra'Vio. "Thank you for your time, Dra'Vio."

The old woman only smiled up at me, nodding her head. "It was my pleasure, Sergeant. I hope you find what you're looking for. If I learn something, I'll be sure to tell you." She slowly picked herself out of the chair, pushing heavily against her cane.

"Do you need any help getting home?" I asked the feeble woman.

She shook her head. "No need for that, dear. Walking helps my sciatica." She waved me off. "Go be a heroine, beat up the people putting our town at risk."

Couldn't say 'no' to that. I nodded farewell to Dra'Vio and rushed out of the library. I would have contacted Zvhar through our mental connection, if one was established today. He was off doing whatever it was he needed to get done, and the rest of the squad was off doing their own thing as well. Violet was watching Ahmbra because I asked her to, Mvoshi was with his mother preparing for the entrance exams. Not his, of course, he's still too young to join the academy. He's only on my squad because his mother allows him to be. She thinks it's a good learning experience for him as long as he stays out of the dangerous assignments. We have me for those assignments.

The town was pretty active today, but that makes sense. Yesterday was a festival, so people were still charged with a need to have some amount of fun, not to mention today was Freedas. Four-day weekends are the best. Mage Force was enjoying their break as well. At least, my squad was. My squad worked four days in a row (Morndas to Turdas). Azanil Henakar's squad worked the weekends. His squad is the only other squad with the exclusion of Captain Elvas Seralas that know about the _Mythical Ballista_ , or about Ahmbra's connection to her. Henakar's squad is the second squad watching over Ahmbra when my people are off for their three days.

And so, walking the streets, I could see a member of Henakar's squad walking around. The student was one of the Argonian Shadows. I don't know her name however. I don't really take the time to learn the students' names in the other squads. I'm not really in this to make friends; I just want to find the Dominion and put an end to them. They're replaced every semester or so anyway, too many for me to remember. The Argonian will probably be somewhere else, or with a different squad in a different section of town. Or the worst might happen; she won't be here at all.

Everyone looked happy today. Plenty of kids just out walking around with their parents. Plenty of unfamiliar faces as new arrivals for this semester were poking their heads out of the local inns. I got to see a few people I even went to class with. I wish I had time to sit down and sip some moon milk, but I wanted to be the one to find this laboratory making _Nirvana_. If it had anything to do the Dominion, I wanted to know for certain.

I walked absentmindedly to the warehouse, keeping my thoughts on what I might find, and hoping for the best, but planning for the worst. Before I even knew it, I was passing by my own house. Well, it wasn't my house, but I _was_ living there. Tsija was the one living here, I just happened to find myself living here for the moment. We're… friends, so I guess it's not so bad.

I scanned the windows to see if Tsija was in, but I guess she was busy today. Probably visiting the hospital to see about healing whoever's there. She works part time at the hospital, almost every healer does. There are several clinics in the Business District, and there are a few healers for every kind of injury. Mind readers and empathic healers almost always end up working for the clinics, helping mind cases and physical injuries whenever they come in.

I left a small note in the doorway, explaining to her why I might be home later tonight than usual. And what to do if I don't return at all, not to mention where to find my bloody broken body. It's not like it's the first time I've had to come collect me from my missions. And it's not the first time she's healed me from near death. Finding and destroying the Dominion is not an easy assignment, after all.

I left before Tsija could walk up to the door, and ask me directly where I was going. She worries, and I hate that she does. But I get it. I made sure to collect my magicka blockers and my issued stun stick before setting out for the warehouse. I had no idea what I would be finding, and I hoped I would be finding a lot. I should have grabbed some backup. At least Violet… I think she wanted this payback as much as I did.

When I had everything I needed, I closed the door behind me and set out for the warehouse. It was on the other side of the Waterfront District, actually near the Elven District. Time to find out if we can get rid of this drug for good. Once I have everything under control, I'll call in the alchemists to find out what's in this stuff and how we can treat it for future breakouts. Finding the drug is only the first step in getting rid of it. We have to find out how it's made before we can make an effective antidote. So far, we haven't collected enough samples to do anything with it.

The trek down the Riverfront was pleasant. The sun was out, the waves were crashing against the shore, and it seemed like half the village was out enjoying the warm spring weather by swimming in the lake. I could see a few practicing fire mages doing what they could to warm up pockets of the water for everyone else. It might be too cold still for casual swimming. This water does come down from the Imperial City and leads into the ocean. The canal did wonders for helping us build this river into something pretty big, the river was wide enough for us to enjoy a good swim, and the current wasn't so bad once you got used to where it actually picked up speed. The rapids were farther south too.

It didn't take long, about 15 minutes or so, to walk to the other side of the Waterfront District down to where the docks started leading into the warehouses. I got the chance to look up at the looming mountains to the farthest south of the town. The Dying Winds Point was on one of the flat plateaus, not sure which one though. I hardly make the trek up those mountains, haven't since I was 13 or so. Moons, it feels so long ago. I certainly couldn't see anyone up there either. Not that I should be able to. I mean… it's not like the plateau is that far up, but it's far enough that it would take a full two hours to climb up. Three or other races, or maybe even longer. Racing an elf up a mountain is a cake walk. They have to use all four limbs and pull themselves up like babies crawling on the ground. Khajiits just sprint up, almost leaping from spot to spot. Some of us are blurs on the nearly vertical bluffs.

I watched the mountains as I headed into the warehouses. I threw my hood up over my dreadlocks, looking around for anyone watching. Not a single soul at the moment, which was weird. Normally I'd see at least one official with a clipboard walking around checking stock or something. Must be a slow day.

I quickly checked my map, making sure I'm kicking in the right door. I walked down a small line of warehouses, spotting the one that should be the circled on the map. I took a deep breath as I readied my stun stick. No need to be diplomatic about this. I don't like giving people warning about what I'm up to. Just kick the damn door down and damn the consequences like a real warrior.

I slammed my foot down onto the door, pushing a bit of ice through my wrapped foot to breach the locking device. I've practiced this move so much that it never failed me. And just like all the times I've done this, the door broke inwards, snapping off its hinges and flying into the room. A sheet of ice cracked underneath it as it hit the floor, sliding into the warehouse.

The welcoming committee was no more than a Khajiit male and a Bosmer female. They were both wearing surgical masks, and they both looked confused as to my entrance. Their faces were covered enough that I couldn't recognize who they were. The smell of the fumes were masking their scents too. They were both leaning over two separate tables, set up with alchemical supplies. I could see the fumes already steaming off a boiling substance.

Ok, Ngil, you just kicked your way into a drug processing plant… you better come up with a snappy one-liner. "What do we have here?" Yeah… subtle. I like it.

The Khajiit's tail flicked. "Did you need something? We're a little busy here."

I rubbed the soreness out of my shoulder as I walked into the room. "Yeah, I'd like an order of anchovy bites, and a moon milk, please."

The Bosmer rolled her eyes. " _That_ warehouse is two doors down. We're experimenting with exciting new revolutionary alchemical solutions. Some of which that are possibly dangerous. Unless you feel like dawning the appropriate gear, don't come any closer."

Oh, she's going for that angle. "Ok, we're dropping the act. I'm with Mage Force." That got both of them to glance cautiously at each other. "We received a tip that a dangerous drug by the name of Nirvana was being produced here. I'm here to put you two into custody, close this place down, and bring out alchemical specialists here to determine the effects of… whatever it was you were making in here. If it matches what we know of Nirvana, or any other illegal substance we know of… you will stay in custody until a jury made up of your fellow mages determine what your crime will be. Come with me silently, and this will be easy. If you…"

I didn't get another word out. The Bosmer swung her hand across the table, knocking several potion bottles at me, bottles that were filled with… Moons knows what.

I covered my nose, diving away from the potion bottles as they crashed down all around me. "Suck on that, white fur!" The Bosmer bitch screamed as she headed for the rear exit. The Khajiit followed right behind her.

I charged for the exit, racing after them. Fumes and flames were sprouting all around the floor, spreading everywhere. I had to put out the flames, luckily for me… I'm an Ice mage. I launched a wave of snow from my hands, chilling the air around me to form a sheet of ice across the floor. It was enough to cool the floor and starve the flames. After I was sure the lab was secure, I charged after the Khajiit and the Bosmer. Both had gotten away. Oh well, so much for that. At least I know next time to put a few sheets of ice over the other exits, if not just to slow everyone else down enough that I can do what needs to be done and then do my arrests.

I pulled out my crystal ball. Better call Captain Elvas. He'll want to chew me out for doing this without any backup. And once this was done, I'm going to go home, climb into the bath, and soak myself into a deep sleep.

* * *

 **Cearbhail:**

So, for this chapter we'll talk about... hmm... which character. Oh, how about Vio Sonmar'Herrociha

The local divination expert, and a master seer. She is the one that helps incoming students with their counseling sessions, as well as predictions as to how to prepare for their studies. She helps Ahmbra out by telling her how old she really is, and is also the one that gives Ahmbra the nickname… the Mythical Ballista, based on an image of her standing up to an enchanted ballista heading for the academy, and taking it out with a small copper bolt, turning it into a beam of destruction by using her electricity to polarize the bolt and launching it at the ballista.

Vio first moved to Rimmen as a young woman, 19 years-old, after receiving a vision of the town being overrun by Dominion soldiers. She used her powers to help a confused number of students and Mage Force recruits to help defend the town from terrorist actions. She quickly became a hero to the town, a title she used to help her find a job as a local fortune teller, a predictor of the future and advice giver on possible outcomes. She was quickly recruited by Mage Force as a predictive element that could help deter crime in the town. She gladly took the job, allowing herself to become one of the top agents for the town. Suddenly, Mage Force was everywhere it needed to be when they needed to be there, the Aldmeri Dominion in the town effectively crushed under the Mage Force and Fire Legion banners.


End file.
